The Call of the Phoenix
by Smileytiger
Summary: Alex was 6. She saw her parents die after being hit by a jet of green light and her brother went missing. 5 years later she receives a letter inviting her to a magical school. Could this be her chance to find the fiery haired boy who killed her parents?
1. Prologue

_**A.N: This is my fist fanfiction. I've been wanting to put it up for a while but never really had the chance to. I hope you like the prologue. It takes place 5 years before the main story in America. I've already written the first chapter and I'm going to put it up later today. **_

_**Disclaimer: I dont own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters.**_

Prologue

Alex smiled cheekily as she crept silently up to the bench her brother was sitting on. He was sitting slouched; his face was in his hands, his dark hair falling through the gaps in between his fingers. He seemed to be deep in thought and didn't notice Alex as she crept. When she had reached him, Alex took a deep breath and shouted, "BOO!" in her high pitch, girlish voice. It wasn't scary but her brother pretended to jump in surprise to please her. Alex's smile broke in to a great big grin and her tinkling laughter sounded from her mouth like a bell. Her brother ruffled her hair, smiling. He loved his sister, how could he not? She was cute, friendly and unlike most young children, she wasn't noisy and didn't demand attention. Alex also adored her older brother. He was always kind to her and they shared an unspoken bond. She only knew this because she was a child and children know unspoken things, unfortunately, they usually forget them all by the time they are eight years old.

"Hi, Al." He greeted her smiling. He had been waiting for her to get out of class; he was picking her up from school. He stood up from the bench and took her hand. "Shall we go?" Alex nodded but answered 'yes.' When she realised he wasn't watching her. Instead, he was looking at all of the little children running around the Elementary school playground. "Your friend's running over." He said looking back down at her. Alex looked up and saw Sarah running towards them.

"Hey! Alex!" She called just before she stopped, panting, in front of Alex. "You left your lunch box!" she said handing a pink lunch box to Alex.

"Thanks Sarah." Alex said taking the lunch box.

"You're welcome. Do you want to come over to my house tomorrow? My mum is making cupcakes!" Sarah and Alex looked pleadingly at her brother.

"Can I Jake? Please!" Alex said eyes wide.

"Shouldn't you ask_ mum_." He said the last word bitterly but Alex didn't notice.

"But you're the same!" Alex said and Jake's jaw tightened.

"Don't call me and that _woman_the same!" He hissed. Alex's smile vanished and her face contorted into a mask of shock. Jake hardly ever got mad with Alex and she was surprised at the tone if his words. Jake took a deep, calming breath and then said cheerfully. "Sure you can go Al." He smiled but Alex didn't smile back. She knew something had been bothering her brother but she didn't know what.

"Thank you!" Alex said and Jake bit his lip. He knew she was on to him.

Sarah, who didn't seem to have noticed anything strange, smiled at Alex and said, "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow!" before she skipped off. Jake took Alex's backpack from her and slung it over his shoulder before pulling her gently towards the exit of the Elementary school. Alex followed him obediently all the while wondering why he was upset.

"J-Jake…" She said after they were a while away from the Elementary school. She didn't get to finish her sentence because Jake cut her off.

"Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you Al. I just have a lot on my mind right now." He dragged a hand through his mop of black hair and his blue eyes looked sad and confused.

"You can tell me." Alex squeezed his hand. Her own blue eyes were filled with worry and her long, black hair hung in pigtails tied with cute little blue bows. All in all, she looked like a 6 year old girl version of her brother except for the fact that his skin was paler than hers.

"I'm sorry; I just can't, maybe when you're older." He grinned. "It's nothing you should worry your pretty little head about."

As soon as he said those words, Alex pushed the worry to the back of her mind. She trusted her brother and if he needed her help, he would ask, right? As a child it sounded like the most obvious thing. She wasn't even sure why she was asking about it. If you needed help, you ask for it, don't you? As a child it didn't make sense why anyone wouldn't, but looking back on it, she realised that there were so many reasons why Jake might not have told her straight out, and she realised that if she had just tried harder to get the truth out, she might have saved millions of lives. But, she couldn't do anything about it because, she was a child at that moment and at the time, it was what she believed.

"Okay! Do you want to draw with me when we get home?" Jake smiled sadly and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I have to go to town. I need a new bag."

"Okay. What about when you're done?" She persisted. She had secretly painted a picture of him a few days ago and she wanted to show it to him. Just imagining his proud face made her happy.

"We'll see." He smiled. By this time, they had reached their drive and Jake handed Alex's backpack back to her. "I'm not going in, 'kay." He bent down and kissed her cheek gently then gave her a huge hug. He took a deep breath and smelt the sweet smell of cherry blossom that his sister somehow always smelt of. He committed the smell to memory and then let go. "Bye." It sounded official, as if this would really be goodbye for a long time and Alex held on to him. Maybe it was just the unreasonable part of her but she felt that if she let go of him, then he would leave her forever. She was not a selfish child but she didn't want anyone else to have her brother. He was special and she wanted him to stay with her.  
"Don't go!" she pleaded and her brother frowned.  
"It's just for a little while. I'll see you soon." he knew that it wasn't completely true and he hated lying to his sister. Alex though, pushed away her insecure feelings and smiled.  
"Okay! I'll see you soon!" she skipped to the front door and opened it. When she turned round to wave, Jake was already walking away from the house and she pushed away her earlier feelings as she waved goodbye. He would be back soon.  
"Hi sweetie!" her mother, Hannah, greeted her she gave her a quick hug and then asked, "Where's Jakey?"  
"He went to town to get a new bag!" Alex said cheerfully.  
"Oh? I wonder why he didn't come in. I would have given him some money." she smiled fondly, thinking of her little boy, well not so little anymore, he was 13. "Go change out of your uniform. Dad will be back soon."  
"Okay! Mum, Jake said I could go to Sarah's tomorrow. Her mum is making cupcakes!"  
"Well, if Jake thinks its ok, then I'm fine with it. Now go on and get changed. You two took so long to walk home, it's almost tea time! Have you turned into tortoises over night?" Alex laughed and ran up the stairs to change out of her uniform.

She had just finished putting some socks on when she heard the front door open and the happy voice of her loving father float upstairs.  
"Daddy!" she shouted as she ran back down the stairs. Her father, David, laughed and picked her up, twirling her round and giving her a big kiss on her forehead. Her mother came into the room smiling.  
"Come on you two, it's time for tea."  
"Where's Jake?" David asked looking around for his son.  
"He just rang to say that he was stopping by a friend's and that he would be late."  
"Okay. Well, let's eat! I'm starving!" Alex nodded in agreement and the three of them sat down round the table and began eating.

Three hours had passed and it was getting dark and Jake had still not come back. Hannah sent Alex upstairs to do her teeth and put on her pyjamas while she tried to call Jake once more. Again, the answering machine answered and Hannah sat down in an armchair, her face contorted with worry.  
"Don't worry; I'm sure he's fine!" David reassured her.  
"I hope so." Hannah sighed. Meanwhile Alex had done her teeth and was putting on her pyjamas, a pink t-shirt and shorts. Then she went into the hallway and sat on the top stair. Her parents seemed a bit distant and she didn't want to trouble them. Suddenly, she heard the front door open quietly and then quickly click closed just as silently. She held her breath but didn't hear anything more. She stood up and crept down the stairs slowly and silently to check if it was just her imagination. She crept down the corridor and looked at the front door, but it was closed and there was no one there. She was about to turn back around when she saw the living room door open a jar. She crept towards it and peered round, into the room. She gasped in horror and confusion at the sight that met her eyes. Her mother and father, standing straight up, squirming as though they were tied by invisible ropes. Their mouths were open and it looked like they were screaming but no sound was coming out of their mouths. In the corner of the room, Alex saw figure, definitely male, about the same size as Jake, dressed all in black and wearing a mask. The only colour on him that Alex could see was a mop of fiery red hair. He was holding what looked like a stick and was pointing it at her parents. As she watched the figure smiled and hissed coldly.  
_"Avada Cadabra!"_ a jet of green light shot out of the stick and both her parents dropped to the floor. Their eyes glazed over and their chests still. Alex whimpered from her hiding place and the figure turned to face her. He caught her eyes and, fast as lightning, whirled around, pointed his stick at the window, which scattered instantly, and jumped out. Alex ran to the window but it was too dark to see anything. She sunk to the floor of the living room, her face buried in her hands, trying not to look at her parents lying motionless on the floor. What did he do? Why did he come? How did the light come from the stick? Where was Jake? The questions swirled round her head like a tornado. Who was that person with the hair like fire and the brilliant blue eyes? The irises the exact same colour Alex saw in _her_eyes when she looked in the mirror. The same colour as Jakes.

The funeral took place two weeks later. Nobody knew why her parents died. Scientists examined the bodies but found no injuries. They had been perfectly healthy too. The scientists were thinking of putting in more research but one day, they decided to drop it. Jake didn't come back and after a few days, the police sent a search party out for him but they never found him. A few people said they'd seen him going to our street. The police were also going to carry on searching when they also stopped. The story of the Adam's death was that an assassin met Jake on the way to assassinate Hannah and David and he killed him and dragged Jakes body away to hide the evidence. He then went into Alex's house and poisoned Hannah and David. Lucky Alex survived because she was sleeping.

Alex tried to correct them but no one believed the story of the man with the magic stick and the green light. They just looked at her pityingly and told her that everything would be okay. But Alex doubted that it would. She didn't know what to do without her loving family. She had stayed with her grandparents first but her relatives decided that it would be better if she moved to England to a town called Welwyn Garden City near London after the funeral. Her aunt Linda lived there with her two children, Kim who was 10 and Ben who was 8. They thought Alex would be happier there. But in reality, Alex wanted to stay at home in America. Not move to a new country with people she had never met before, even though they were family.

Alex cried on the aeroplane to England and in the car on the way to her Aunts. When she got there, her Aunt smiled and welcomed her. She introduced her to Kim and Ben and then made her a warm bath and delicious supper. Alex liked her Aunt and cousins. They were really nice, kind people but she was homesick and she felt as though a piece of her was destroyed by same jet of green light that killed her parents. That night she sat on the window seat in her room and looked up at the moon. It was a beautiful, full moon. She reached into her dressing gown pocket and pulled out the picture of Jake she had drawn. She pictured his face, proud and loving. She looked up at the moon and wished with all of her heart that someday, she could give him the picture and see his face light up. She smiled and a single tear trickled down her cheek.

_**A.N: Hope you liked it. The next chapters coming soon. Please Review. I don't mind constructive criticism. Tell me what you think. **_


	2. Chapter 1 the visitor

_**A.N: I got this one up as quickly as I could. Hope you enjoy it. Then next chapter will be up soon. This chapter is 5 years after the last one, so Alex will be 11 years old. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters.**_

Chapter 1 - the visitor

"Hey, Alex! Come here!" a voice sounded from downstairs. Alex laid her pencil down on her desk and stood up. She walked out of her room, down the stairs and into the dining room where Aunt Linda was sitting holding an envelope. She smiled and gave it to Alex.

"It's for you. I think it's your SATS scores." Alex's face lit up. She had been waiting for the scores for at least a month. All of her other classmates had already gotten theirs but because she had been ill with the flu for the last two weeks of school, they had to mail hers and it had finally arrived at the end of the first week of the summer holidays.

"I wonder what I got." She mumbled to herself.

"Definitely high marks." Kim, who had just wondered into the room, said smiling. "You were studying really hard! Hey, Ben! Come here! Alex has her SATS results!" a thundering of footsteps came from the other room and a few seconds later, Ben appeared in the doorway of the room.

"Go on then! Open it!" he said grinning.

"Okay, here goes." Alex said carefully opening the letter. She pulled out the first sheet that was inside and unfolded it. She read it and then yelled loudly.

"What did you get?" Kim asked expertly.

"All 5a's!" 5a was the top level you could get in KS2 (Key stage 2).

"Really!" Ben was shocked.

"Yeah!" Kim said as she read the paper over Alex's shoulder. "It's true! Alex is a genius!"

"Well done Alex!" Aunt Linda hugged Alex tightly. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks Aunt Linda!"

"How about I treat you to an Ice-cream in town tomorrow, since you're fully recovered?" Kim offered.

"Oh, yes please!" Alex grinned. She loved ice-cream.

"So, is that all that was in the envelope? It seemed kind of heavy." Aunt Linda asked.

"Oh, yes. There was something else!" Alex picked up the envelope and pulled out the rest of the papers. Her face broke into a grin. "I was accepted into Stanborough School in Hertfordshire!"

"Really?" Ben asked.

"Yes, it seems like one of the accepted students backed out at the last minute and Alex was accepted because of her excellent grades!" Kim was still reading over Alex's shoulder. Stanborough was the high school that both Kim and Ben went to and everyone had been worried when Alex hadn't been accepted. It would be much easier if they all went to the same place.

"Well this is good news!" Aunt Linda said smiling. "How about we go into London tomorrow to get your uniform?"

"That's a good idea! I can buy you ice cream there!" Kim agreed.

"Yeah, and I have some things I want to buy anyway." Ben said.

"Well, okay then, as long as it doesn't inconvenience anybody." Alex said uncertainly.

"It's fine!" Aunt Linda said. "So tomorrow it is!" just then, the door knocked and everyone was jolted out of their happy daze and back to reality. "Ben, can you go get that please?"

"Sure." Ben walked out of the living room.

"Kim dear, can you wash up the dishes in the sink? They're not very many."

"Okay." Kim walked into the kitchen and turned the water on. Alex picked up a leaflet that came with the acceptance form. She flicked through it until she found a picture of the school. She didn't really like it. It was quite plain and looked dull. So did the uniform and the students. Maybe it was just her being picky but she didn't really want to go to Stanborough. She was only going because it was a really good school were everyone got good grades went to university and got good jobs. She sighed and smiled sadly. She wanted to do something more with her life. Have an adventure. Aunt Linda got up.

"I think I'll go see why Ben's taking so long."

"Okay." Alex said putting the leaflet down and standing up. "I'll go put these away." she put the letters in a folder in her room, leaving the leaflet on the table so that she could read it later. She was just about to go back to drawing when Aunt Linda shouted upstairs again.

"Alex, come down!" Alex sighed, put her pencil down once again and ran down the stairs.

"Yes Aunt Linda?" She asked as she walked into the dining room. It was empty.

"We're in the living room!" Aunt Linda called. Alex turned around and walked into the living room wondering who 'we' is. She opened the door and went in.

Aunt Linda was sitting on the sofa, Kim was sprawled on the floor reading a 'Heat' magazine and Ben was sitting in one of the armchairs reading a comic book. There was a third person in the room. She sat in the other armchair. She looked Chinese. She had long black, straight hair and brown eyes. She was quite tall and was wearing jeans and a super dry t-shirt. Aunt Linda patted the space on the sofa next to her and Alex sat down. "This lady says she has something important to talk to you about." Alex turned her attention to the lady in an indication that she was ready to listen.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to her in private first." The lady said.

"I don't mind." Aunt Linda said kindly. "Come on kids, let's go." they left the room and the lady turned to Alex.

"Hello Alex. My name is Cho Chang and I am a professor in Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. I am here to inform you, that you are a witch." the lady said in a business like voice.

"Umm, excuse me?" Alex asked. She was a bit offended and didn't really understand what this lady was talking about.

"You are a witch child. Haven't you ever done anything strange when you were sad or angry? Something that you can't explain?" Alex thought back. Now she thought if it, she did remember doing some strange things. Like once, when she was 7, she bought a pretty red balloon and while she was walking home she let go of it. She ran after it until she was in a wood and it was getting away and suddenly, she found herself in the branches of a large oak tree, holding on to the balloon. And she remembered the funeral, 5 years ago. She was really upset and a window shattered as she walked by. Then two years ago, she was in school when the school bully, Yasmin, was bullying her and her friend Fiona, Yasmin's hair fell out, it literally just dropped out of her head until she was bald.

Cho watched Alex as she recalled the memories smiling. "You see? I told you."

"But those things might not have been me!"

"Well who else was it?"

"I-I don't know but it wasn't me. And this school you're talking about. You expect me to believe that magic is real? I'm not stupid! Whoever thought up this prank is the idiot, not me!" Cho just smiled sadly.

"Magic is real child. Just watch this." she stood up and out of the pocket of her jeans she pulled out a stick. Alex's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She shrank back into the sofa trembling. Cho seemed to realise that she was scared and put the stick back in her pocket.

"W-what t-type of s-sick joke are y-you p-playing?" Alex stuttered, terrified.

"What do you mean?" Cho didn't understand what Alex said but she knew Alex was afraid.

"What's wrong?"

"H-he had a stick, j-just like that one. A-and he killed m-my p-parents." Alex stammered. She had tears welled up in her eyes which she quickly wiped away. She wouldn't cry. Cho walked over to Alex and sat down next to her. She put her hand on her shoulder.

"Who did that?"

"I-I don't know. All I saw was fiery red hair and h-his eyes." Cho gasped.

"Phoenix." she whispered.

"Who's Phoenix?"

"The wizard who killed you parents. You must understand, not all wizards and witches are good you know! Why, when I was in my last year of Hogwarts there was a huge battle against the death eaters and Voldemort, a dark Lord. Harry Potter got rid of him!"

"So, magic does exist?" Alex mumbled. She wasn't sure what to feel. She felt a huge bundle of feelings. Fear, fascination, anger, relief that she wasn't going mad.

"Of course it does." Cho stood up again and re-produced her stick. Alex flinched but wasn't as afraid as before. Cho seemed to be a nice lady, not the scary masked man who haunted her nightmares. "Just watch this!" she waved her stick as if it was a wand and said some words. Then she started shrinking and changing shape. Soon she had morphed into a rabbit. Then she started to grow bigger and wider and then she was Cho again.

"Wow!"

"It's cool, isn't it! And look at this." She pointed her stick at the bookshelf on the wall and it burst into flames. Then with a swish of her hand, the flames were gone. Alex stared, eyes wide, her mouth hanging open.

"Wow! Can I do that?"

"Not yet, you need training. But if you come to Hogwarts then you will definitely be able to do it. Hogwarts is the best magical school in the whole world! We produce the best witches and wizards! I mean Harry Potter went to Hogwarts and look at him now. He's the best Auror out there, and he defeated Voldemort! When he was your age, he was living in a cupboard and didn't even know about magic and now he's the greatest wizard alive!" Alex was amazed. How could one person do so much?

"Umm, what's an Auror?"

"It's like the magic worlds police and investigators and spies."

"Well wouldn't it be easy with magic?" Alex said thinking of how Cho could transform into a rabbit and set things on fire.

"No, if anything, it makes it harder, because the people you are spying on can also use magic and they use the dark magic that we are forbidden to use."

"Oh." Alex said thinking it through. It did sound hard, very dangerous.

"Yes, well, I'm here to tell you that you've been accepted into Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry! I have a letter for you." Cho reached in to her other pocket and produced a tiny purse which didn't look like it could hold anything more than a few coins. She opened it and reached her arm into it. Surprisingly her arm kept going down until only her elbow was poking out. Alex looked at the bottom of the purse, expecting to see an arm come through it, but there was no arm. "It's a simple expanding spell." Cho said dismissively as she rooted around in her purse. "Ah, here it is." She said pulling out an A4 sized letter from the depth of her extended purse. Cho handed Alex the letter made of heavy parchment which had the Hogwarts School crest stamped on. Alex opened the letter hesitantly and took out the contents. There were two pieces of paper stapled together on the same heavy parchment. Alex put the envelope to one side and started to read the swirly writing printed on the paper.

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

_Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_  
_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. and International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss. Adams,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._  
_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_  
_Deputy Headmistress_

Alex flipped over the first sheet to read the second.

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WHICHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**___

UNIFORM  
First-year students will require:  
sets of plain work robes (black)  
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)  
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

_COURSE BOOKS_  
_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_  
_by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_  
_by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_  
_by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_  
_by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_  
_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_  
_1 set glass or crystal phials_  
_1 telescope_  
_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad._

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.**_**  
**  
Broomsticks? Cauldrons? Wands? Was this a joke? Alex's head was reeling. It certainly sounded real but the idea that magic could exist was bizarre. And what did it mean; _they are awaiting her owl?_

"Is this real?" Alex asked re reading the letter.

"Yes. I attended Hogwarts myself and now I'm the transfiguration teacher."

"Wow. So, is that stick a wand!"

"Yes, it is. It doesn't look much like a wand from a story book does it?" Alex shook her head.

"Do you really ride broomsticks?"

"Yes. I was in Ravenclaw's quidditch team!" Cho smiled remembering her match against Harry Potter.

"What's quidditch?" Alex asked, perplexed.

"It's like humans football, everyone follows it, but it's played in the air on brooms and there are several balls. They'll teach you the rules in flying lessons." Alex pictured people whizzing around a football pitch on brooms catching several footballs. She herself had never really been a fan of football so she wasn't as interested if quidditch was like football.

"So, where can I buy all of this stuff?"

"In London. I'll take you there tomorrow to pick up all of your things."

"Well, I need to ask Aunt Linda first. I just got accepted into a really good school near here, so I'm not sure I want to go." But in that instance, Alex imagined herself surrounded by friends who had all shared the same experience in a magical school were they rode brooms and communicated by owls. She saw broom races and what she imagined quidditch to be like. She imagined learning powerful spells and then finding this Phoenix guy and destroying him for what he did to her family. The she saw herself walking slowly up a cobbled path to a school where the students wore plain uniform and the walls were painted grey. She saw herself exceling in her subjects but never smiling and becoming one of the boring, strict accountants and the murderer of her family running around unpunished. She saw herself going to sleep and thinking, "What if?"

Alex knew she was lying when she said she wanted to go to Scarborough. It was a good school, but now she had a chance to make a difference. To change her life completely. She couldn't ignore it, could she?

Cho watched satisfied as the determined look spread across the girls face. It was the same look she had herself when she found out about Hogwarts, years ago. She smiled as Alex opened her eyes.

"Okay. I'd like to go. But how am I supposed to tell Aunt Linda?"

"Just leave it to me." Cho said kindly. "I'll speak to them. Please go and get them."

"Okay thank you." Alex stood up, picked up her letters and smiled widely at Cho as she exited the room. It was the first time in five years that she had smiled so happily.

"Aunt Linda, Kim, Ben. Cho would like to speak to you." Alex sang as she entered the kitchen where the three of them were waiting.

"Okay dear. Is she still in the living room?"

"Yes. I would brace your selves though, it's rather shocking news!"

"Okay. Thank you Alex." The three of them got up from the tall breakfast barstools and walked out of the room. Alex ran up to her room smiling. She climbed onto her bed and lay back, looking up at the ceiling. She couldn't wait for tomorrow. She heard a loud "WOW!" Come from the living room and smiled. She wondered what types of spells she would be able to do. Then a huge wave of worry washed over her. What if she was rubbish, what if she was so bad that they had to send her back! What if she couldn't even master the basic spells!  
_'Calm down Al. You'll be great. It's nothing to worry your pretty little head about.'_ That's what Jake would have told her. She smiled sadly put her hands over her eyes to make sure she didn't cry. She hadn't cried once in five years, since her first day here. She had become very good at controlling her emotions but once in a while, she would feel tears welling up inside her eyes. She never cried though. It was her promise to her family. That she wouldn't cry anymore. She took a deep breath and rolled on to her side. After all of the excitement of the day, she fell asleep quickly.

Unknown to anybody, a man was sitting in the tree opposite Alex's room's window covered by a curious cloak he had borrowed from a friend. The cloak made him invisible so nobody noticed as he watched Alex as she fell asleep, an overwhelming feeling of regret burning in his chest. He smiled sadly at the sleeping figure for a second before he jumped down from the tree and disappeared. Only leaving behind a single strand of fiery orange hair.

_**A.N: Ooh, I wonder what will happen next! (Well I don't because I know) lol. Next chapters in Diagon Alley! I'll have it up ASAP. I'm actually writing the fourth chapter but I need to proof read the second one before I can upload it. Please review and tell me what you think. The more people review, the faster I'll type. ;p**_


	3. Chapter 2 Diagon Alley

_**A.N: Here's the next chapter. 3 in a day, I'm on a roll! I'll upload chapter 3 on Wednesday or Thursday. Hope you enjoy this chapter. **_

_**Disclaimer: I dont own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters.**_

Chapter 2 – Diagon Alley

"Alex, finish your breakfast, and then get ready. Mrs Chang will be here soon, you too Ben. Go get your things; we'll drop you off on the way." Ben was going to his friend's house to do a summer project.

"Sure Aunt Linda." Alex said through a mouthful of cornflakes. She quickly finished her cereal and then washed her bowl and spoon before sprinting upstairs to get ready. She flung open her wardrobe and pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and a red t-shirt. She quickly took of her pyjamas and pulled them on. The she put on some socks and her new converse trainers and shrugged on a leather jacket. She quickly brushed her hair and tied it into a high ponytail. Then she grabbed her letter, list and shoulder bag which contained her phone, iPod, brush and purse. Then she ran back down the stairs. Cho was waiting in the porch and Alex sighed with relief. She was starting to wonder if it had all been a dream. Aunt Linda was also waiting with Kim who was wearing black skinny jeans and a purple tunic and boots.

"Ben! Come on!" Kim shouted up the stairs.

"Coming!" Ben bellowed as he cautiously made his way down the stairs carrying a mound of coloured paper and cardboard for his school project. Alex ran up to him and quickly took a role of paper and some pieces of cardboard. "Thanks Alex." Ben said as he readjusted his hold on the papers. Alex carried the paper down the stairs and put them into the boot of Aunt Linda's car. Cho slid into the passenger seat and Alex, Kim and Ben got into the back.

"Okay, Ben first." Aunt Linda said as she started the car and drove down the street. Within half an hour, Ben was exiting the car and his friend was helping him carry the paper and card out of the car. "I'll come pick you up at around five, okay?" Aunt Linda called after her son who nodded and waved her off.

"Okay, so where to now?" Aunt Linda asked Cho as she turned off the street.  
"Umm, do you mind if I drive. It will be a lot easier." Cho asked and Aunt Linda parked the car on the side of the road. She quickly switched seats and then Cho started the car and started to drive. She drove a lot quicker than Aunt Linda who was always checking her blind spots a multiple of time, were as Cho only checked hers once, if at all. But Cho was also a better driver and drove like a professional, dodging all of the dints in the road and slowing down for the shortest time possible as she drove over the bumps. Only Cho new exactly where they were going. Aunt Linda tried her best to count the turns and memorise the street names but it was impossible. Alex sat, smiling to herself; resting her head on the window as she watched the streets fly past, but inside, she was burning with anticipation.  
"We're almost there, but we can park here." Cho said swinging into a car park and parking the car perfectly within seconds. Everyone got out of the car and followed Cho down a street. They walked for around ten minutes. Alex wondered where they were going. She looked at the nearest street sign. They were on Charing Cross road.

"Here we are." Cho had stopped and was smiling at her success; she wasn't sure if she remembered were it was and was delighted that she had gotten it right. Alex looked up. They were standing in front of a tall, terraced building of grey stone. It lay in between a cheery record shop and what looked like a book shop. There was a sign that hung above the door. It read 'Leaky Cauldron' and looked like a pub. Alex looked at Cho, who was still smiling.

"What, the music shop, or the book shop?" Aunt Linda asked.  
"It's none of them. I've been to both of these shops before and I haven't seen anything magical." Kim said impatiently. "I think you might have the wrong place."

"Can't you see it?" Alex asked bewildered.

"See what?" Aunt Linda asked.

"It's there!" Alex pointed to the Leaky Cauldron only Aunt Linda and Kim saw her pointing to the abandoned, vandalised and rundown looking building that lay in between the two shops.

"Muggles can't see it." Cho said. "It's a charm we put on it. Okay, so take one of their hands and we'll go in." Alex took Kim's hand and Cho took Aunt Linda's. Together they walked up to the Leaky Cauldron and Cho opened the door. Inside it was dark and shabby, but felt welcoming.

In the corner, there was a handsome wooden staircase that led up to the next floor and standing at the counter was a man with a hunched back. There were lots of tables arranged around the pub and it was definitely bigger than it looked from outside. There was a long corridor and several doors indicating more rooms. Alex spotted a few old women sitting in a corner drinking tiny glasses of sherry and a couple of men having a muted conversation. Aunt Linda and Kim's eyes widened as they looked around. They could definitely see everything now. "Hello Tom, how are you?" Cho asked the man behind the counter. He looked up and grinned.

"I'm fine, thanks Cho. Is she one for Hogwarts?"

"Yes. McGonagall sent me."

"Ah, McGonagall. Have you seen the Potter's yet?"

"No, I was hoping to see them soon. Albus is starting this year isn't he?"

"Yeah, lovely lad. I saw him last year with, James and Lily. Looks just like his dad."

"Yes, well I must be going now. Bye."

"Bye." Alex was starting to get interested in the Potters. She wondered what they looked like. She wanted to meet Harry Potter and ask him how he defeated Voldemort. She might learn a thing or two from him.

"Come on." Cho said but Aunt Linda interrupted her.

"Umm, I'm sorry but I have a meeting with a client in 20 minutes and Kim also has a project she needs to do, so is it okay if we meet up for lunch at around 2. We can go to subway; Alex will show you where it is."

"Sure, that's fine." Alex and Cho told them although Alex hadn't heard anything of the meeting or project before.

"Okay, we'll see you later!" Aunt Linda waved and pulled Kim out of the Leaky Cauldron. Cho laughed.

"My parents were the same. It's usually too much for the Muggles."

"Umm, excuse me but what are Muggles?" Alex asked, feeling more relieved than anything with Aunt Linda and Kim's departure.

"It's what we call non magic people." Cho said. "Shall we get going?" Alex nodded and Cho led her through the bar and out into a small walled courtyard where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds. Alex shut the door behind her. Cho took out her wand mumbled

"Stand back, Alex. Okay, so it's... Umm, three up and...two across." She counted the bricks on the front wall. "It's been a while since I used this entrance. Usually I come by flu powder." She found the correct brick and tapped it three times with her wand and the brick she had touched quivered and wriggled and a small hole appeared. It grew wider and wider and a second later they were facing a large archway that led onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of site.

"Welcome," Said Cho grinning at Alex's amazed face, "To Diagon Alley." They stepped through the archway. Alex looked quickly over her shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall. The street was lined with shops and filled with wizards and witches wearing pointy hats and different coloured cloaks. The sun shone brightly on a stack of different sized cauldrons outside the nearest shop, casting a reflection on the street. Alex let out a deep breath in shock as she looked around.

"Wow!" she breathed.

"Okay, first up is Gringotts bank. We need to open an account for you and then we can convert your money and you'll be ready. Okay, let's go!"

Alex wished she had about eight more eyes as she walked though Diagon Alley. She turned her head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything. The shops, the things out side them, the people doing their shopping. A sign outside a shop called the apothecary read; dragon liver and toad's legs half price! A low, soft hooting drifted through from a dark shop with a sign which read; Eyelop's Owl Emporium, tawny, screech, barn, brown and snowy. Alex saw a crowded shop with different kinds of brooms in the display window. There were shops that sold robes, shops selling telescopes and strange instruments that Alex had never seen before. Windows stacked with jars of bats spleens and owls eyes, tottering piles of spell books and quills and roles of parchment. Potion bottles and globes showing space. There were more shops than she could count and she wished that Cho would slow down so that she could take a look inside them, but Cho seemed to be in a hurry.

"Here it is. Gringotts wizard bank. The safest place in the world except for Hogwarts, of course!" Alex looked up at the snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold was…  
"That's a goblin." Cho whispered to Alex as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Alex. He had a clever face and very long fingers and feet. The goblin bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors. They were silver and had words engraved in them.

_'Enter, stranger, but take heed,  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there.'_

"You would be mad to try and rob Gringotts." Cho whispered to Alex. A pair of goblins bowed them through the doors and then they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind long counters scribbling on parchments of paper, weighing coins on brass scales and examining precious stones through eye glasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall and_ more _goblins were showing people in and out of them. Alex followed Cho up to one of the counters.

"We would like to open an account." Cho said. The goblin reached for a roll of parchment and a quill.

"Full name please."

"Alexandra Sophia Adams." Alex said sounding braver than she felt. The goblins scared her.  
The goblin looked down at Alex over his long nose.

"An account was opened for you yesterday miss Adams." the goblin said.

"That's not possible. Are you sure you haven't gotten it mixed up?" Cho asked.

"No. He made a huge commotion and gave us her picture to make sure we didn't get the wrong person."

"What was his name?" Cho asked.

"He wouldn't say. He was wearing a cloak too, so we don't know what he looks like." The goblin was getting impatient. "Here's your key." he handed a small golden key to Alex. "It's vault number 1057." Alex smiled at the goblin.

"Thank you." she said and the goblin smiled. He called over another goblin and told him to take Alex and Cho to vault number 1057. Alex and Cho followed the other goblin to one of the doors that led of the hall. The goblin opened the door and held it open for them. Alex, who had been expecting more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passage way that led steeply downwards lit only by flaming torches attached to the cave like walls. There were little railway lines on the floor of the passage. The goblin whistled and a little cart came zooming towards them.

They climbed in, and were off. At first they just hurtled through a maze if twisting passages. Alex tried to remember which passages they took but she soon lost count. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way because the goblin wasn't steering. Alex's eyes stung as the cold wind rushed past them but she kept them wide open. Once, she thought she saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage but they were already rounding the next bend and it was gone in seconds. Cho was clutching her seat and looked very pale and when the cart stopped suddenly in front of a little door in the wall, Cho climbed quickly out of the cart.

"I don't like riding these things." she told Alex quietly. "Way too fast."

"Can I have your key?" the goblin asked Alex. Alex nodded and took the key out of her bag.

"Here you go." she said as she handed the key to the goblin. The goblin fitted the key into a lock in the door and turned it. He then pushed the door open and held it for them. Alex gasped as she looked around the volt. So did Cho. It was full, floor to ceiling, with mountains of gold coins, columns of silver and heaps of little bronze coins there were even a few rubies.  
"I wonder who gave you all of this." Cho said.

"What, this is all mine?" Alex asked awe struck.

"Looks like it." Cho helped Alex pile some of it into Alex's bag. "The gold ones are Galleons, the silver ones are Silver Sickles and the little bronze ones are Knuts. Seventeen Silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty nine Knuts to a Sickle. It's easy enough." After that the goblin locked the vault and gave the key back to Alex. They all got back into the cart and started the journey back.

Soon after, Alex was standing outside Gringotts, her bag full of money. Cho looked at her watch.

"Oh dear, we only have an hour and a half left. To speed this up, how about I go get your books and equipment and you go get your robes fitted." Cho took Alex to a shop called Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. "I'll meet you back here when I've got your things okay?" Alex walked into the shop alone, feeling nervous. Madam Malkin was an old, smiling witch dressed in a bright blue cloak.

"Hogwarts dear?" Alex nodded. "I'll have my assistant, Mini, fit your robes okay." Mini was a plump, jolly witch who talked cheerfully as she fitted Alex's robe. By the time she had finished, they had an hour left. Cho was waiting outside the shop with a tote bag. She had cast an extending charm on it and it held all of Alex's equipment and robes.

"Okay, now for your wand. We're going to Ollivander's for that." Cho led Alex to Ollivander's which was a curious looking shop. It looked rather dusty but as soon as Alex entered the shop, she could feel the magic that filled the shop. She was very excited but made no noise as the shop had a still and silent atmosphere, like a sacred temple. An extremely old wizard smiled at them through half-moon spectacles. He looked very wise and Alex could see many secrets hidden in his bright eyes.

"Hello Cho, I haven't seen you in a while."

"Hello Ollivander, how are you feeling?" Cho greeted the old wizard.

"I'm fine thank you. Is this one for Hogwarts?"

"Yes. This is Alexandra Sophia Adams."

"Pleased to meet you." Alex told him and he smiled.

"The pleasures all mine. So, you'll be wanting a wand then?"

"Yes please."

"Well, it's like I always say, the wand chooses the wizard." Alex didn't really understand what he meant but she didn't interrupt him. "Well, let's try you out with this one." He reached behind the counter and took a wand out of a box. "Ebony, dragon heartstring, 16 inches long, quite bendy, good for herbeologey." he muttered as he handed it to her. She took it. "Go on, give it a wave." he urged her and she quickly waved it, feeling very foolish. Nothing happened and Ollivander replaced it with another wand which he snatched back out of her hands before she even had time to wave it. Ollivander made her try at least twenty wands until; at last he opened a dusty case and took out a dark cherry coloured wand. "Cherry wood, Phoenix tail feather, 13 inches, very powerful wand." he handed it to Alex. As soon as Alex's figures touched the wand, a warm tingling feeling swirl through her arm and bright orange sparks, like fire, flew out of the end of the wand. "Marvellous, simply marvellous!" Ollivander clapped his hands. "Be careful with a wand like that, it is very powerful! It looks like we can expect many wonderful things from you." Alex paid for her wand and then they were back on the street.

"We have twenty minutes left, do you want anything else."

"It says here that I can get an Owl, cat or frog." Alex said reading her letter.

"Yes, you can. Do you want me to take you to the owl emporium? All the kids want owls; there really helpful and carry your mail."

"Okay, yes please." Alex followed Cho to the shop she had seen before called Eyelop's Owl Emporium. As they opened the door to the dark shop, a bell jingled from somewhere inside the shop and a low hooting sounded from around them. Fifteen minutes later they left the shop, Alex carrying a bird cage in which a cute barn owl perched, hooting softly. Alex was amazed. She had never seen an owl in real life before, only on television. She was going through a list of names in her head, trying to find the perfect one for her new pet.

As they were passing a magical creatures shop, Alex heard a high pitched meow. She stopped and looked down. Sitting by the side of the shop was a black cat. Alex, who had always liked cats made it out to be an English Bombay. The cat was chained to the side of the shop. Its fur was dirty and its eyes looked sorrowful. Cho, who had just noticed Alex had stopped, turned around to see what the problem was.

"Cho, how much time do we have?"

"About, five minutes." Cho said after checking her clock.

"Does it matter if we're late?" Alex didn't know why but she had a bad feeling about what was going to happen to the cat. She was sure it was trying to ask for her help. She was certain that she could feel rolls of anxiousness radiating off the cat.

"Umm, I don't think so, why?"

"I'd like to go in here." Alex said pointing at the shop. Cho hesitated but then said.

"Okay, but be quick." Alex went into the shop while Cho stood outside and held her owl. The shopkeeper looked up at her.

"How can I help you?" He asked politely.

"Umm, well, I was wondering." Alex, who was feeling very nervous, took a deep breath. "Whose is the cat outside the shop?"

"The black one?" The shopkeeper asked.

"Yes."

"It's ours." The shopkeeper said.

"Umm, well. Why is it outside?"

"Oh, well, we're getting rid of it." The shopkeeper said dismissively.

"Why?"

"Because it doesn't seem to have any magical ability." He said as if it was completely obvious. "No one will buy a non-magical animal here. She is useless."

"What are you going to do to her?"

"Just leave her outside. Some hag will come along and eat her, or a wizard will can use her for potions." He said offhandedly.

"That's horrible!"

"Not my problem, where do you think we get the potion ingredients from? They don't just grow out of the ground y' know."

"But, still…" Alex started to say but the shopkeeper cut her off.

"Look, if you're so worried then _you_ take her."

"Really, are you sure?"

"Sure. I'll sell her to you for fifteen Sickles." The shopkeeper said grinning. He thought she would back out of it but, to his astonishment, Alex produced fifteen Silver Sickles from her purse and put them on the counter.

"Thank you!" She said as she turned around and walked out of the shop, leaving the baffled shopkeeper to inspect the coins. When she got outside, she crouched down by the cat. The cat was struggling on the chain.

"Shhh, calm down, your safe now." She cooed and carefully began to untie the cat. She then picked it up and Cho handed her a small blanket she had produced from her extended purse. Alex wrapped it round the cat, who purred.

"Okay, you ready to go?" Cho asked and Alex nodded.

"Sure, let's go." She said and they made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

_**A.N: So there you have it, chapter 2. So, who do you think opened the account for Alex? Tell me what you think in the reviews. Chapter 3 is coming soon. R&R people. Cya soon.**_


	4. Chapter 3 the wait

_**A.N: Here's chapter 3. Hope you enjoy it. Next chapters coming soon. Thanks to RandomMoo92 for your review. I'm glad that you like it and thanks for the advice. I hope this chapter is easier to read because I've changed the lay out. :-) **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters.**_

Chapter 3 – The wait

Ten minutes later, Alex was standing outside Subway, sharing her sandwich with her owl and cat. She sighed as she looked at the clock. They were already twenty minutes late. Cho had left Alex once they had gotten out of Diagon Alley saying that she had to pick up her daughter from a summer club. Alex had been surprised at this because it seemed like such an ordinary thing to do. Cho had wished her luck and run off. When Alex had arrived at subway, they had told her that no animals were allowed in, so she had asked a customer to order her a sandwich and had paid him. So Alex now stood outside subway alone, not counting her owl and cat, waiting for her aunt and Kim to arrive. Once she had finished her sandwich, she took out her mobile phone and thumbed in Aunt Linda's number. The phone rang for a while and then Aunt Linda picked up.

"Aunt Linda, where are you? I've been waiting here for forty five minutes!" Alex said her voice full of worry.

"I'm at my meeting. Where are you waiting?" Aunt Linda's voice was calm.

"At Subway! Remember, we were meeting there!" Alex said exasperated.

"Oh? Ah, yes. I remember now."

"It doesn't matter. Please can you come pick me up?"

"Umm, well actually dear, I'm a little busy right now."

"O-okay, I'll take a taxi." Alex said. She was about to say bye when she heard a beep. Her aunt had hung up. Alex looked at the phone, puzzled. She wondered what was going on but decided that her aunt would probably have a good reason for it. Maybe the meeting was too important to miss. Instead, she found a taxi and, ignoring the questions about her owl, directed him to her house. She let herself in and carried her things up to her room. Her cat jumped up onto her bed and Alex quickly put her back on the floor as she was dirty. She placed the owl's cage on her desk and unlocked door so that her owl could wander around. Alex then picked up her cat took her to the bathroom to clean her.

Her cat didn't enjoy its bath at all and by the time she was clean, Alex had multiple scratches down her arms and on her face and the cat was hissing with displeasure as her soaking fur stuck to her sides. Alex wrapped the cat in a fluffy towel and laid it on her bed amongst several cushions before she left the room to hunt down some plasters.  
When she was bandaged up, she decided to look for her Aunt Linda. Alex searched all over the house but she couldn't find her. Maybe she was still in her meeting. Grabbing a few slices of ham, Alex went back to her room and sat on her bed next her cat. Her owl flew out of its cage and landed on her shoulder and pecked her ear gently. She laughed and threw him a slice of ham. The owl swooped up and caught it before returning to its cage to eat it. Alex stared at the owl for a while smiling. Its flight was so smooth and silent. It was eerie but beautiful. The perfect name popped into her head. "I know what I'll call you." She told the owl who looked up at her. "Ghost!" The owl's eerie flight was how Alex imagined a ghost to be. It also seemed to fit. Ghost seemed to like his new name and hooted softly. Alex smiled and turned to the cat, which was blinking sleepily in the fluffy towels.

"Here you go." Alex told her as she gave her the second slice of ham. The cat took it and ate it daintily. She seemed to have forgiven Alex for the bath. Alex ate the last slice of ham and then sat on her window seat with one of the books on magical creatures. She read it, fascinated, looking at the pictures of unicorns and dragons and Cornish pixies. At one time, Ghost even came to join her, perching on her shoulder. At some time, Alex must have fallen asleep because when she opened her eyes, her room was dark and so was the sky out of her window. She felt something warm sitting on her lap and looked down to see the black Bombay cat looking up at the sky, the moon reflected in her bright eyes. Moon. The cat turned her head to face Alex and purred.

"Hey, girl." Alex told her as she stroked her head gently. She rubbed her face on Alex's hand and Alex got a proper look at her eyes. They were beautiful, so bright in the midst of her pitch black fur. Two bright, silver moons. "What about Moon, for your name?" Alex asked, not really expecting an answer. The cat purred and Alex smiled.

'_I love it. Good choice.' _A soft voice said in her head. Alex jumped and turned around, astonished, looking for the culprit. No one was there, except for Moon, Ghost and Alex. _'It's me Alex.' _Alex looked down to see Moon smiling at her from her lap.

"Y…you c…can talk?" Alex stuttered.

'_You __**did **__find me outside a magical creatures shop.' _Moon reminded her.

"But they said you didn't have any magical powers!" Alex stated.

'_The shopkeeper said, "It doesn't __**seem**__ to have any magical ability."' _Moon quoted. _'However, I do. I can communicate with people, even though I'm a cat.' _Alex took a deep breath.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" She asked. Once she had gotten over the surprise of Moon being able to talk to her, it didn't seem so bad. It would be cool to have a talking cat.

'_I didn't want to surprise you.'_

"No?" Alex asked sarcastically. "I think that suddenly talking is a _lot _more surprising than telling me in the beginning."

'_Well at least you've gotten used to magic a bit more. It would have been too overwhelming.'_

"I guess. Okay, you've got yourself out of that one." Alex told her, smiling.

'_So, when are we going to Hogwarts? All the animals want to go to Hogwarts! It's a real adventure!'_

"On the letter it says that term starts on the 1st of September. It says I need to send my owl no later than the 31st of July. What does that mean?"

'_It's simple really. Just write a letter saying that you are going to Hogwarts. Give it to Ghost and tell him to take it to Hogwarts and he'll deliver it and come back. You don't even need to give him directions. He knows the way. Just do it before the 31st so that they can send you your train ticket.' _Moon informed her.

"Okay, that sounds easy enough. Ghost! Come here. I need you to take a letter for me." Ghost swooped towards Alex silently, a note pad and pen clutched in his beak. "Thanks." Alex told Ghost as he dropped the note pad and pen in her lap and perched on her shoulder. Alex had to think for a few minutes before she started to write.

When she had finished her letter, she folded it and gave it to Ghost to hold. She opened her window and Ghost swooped of her shoulder and into the night sky. Alex watched his silhouette against the bright moon as he flew into the night. After he was out of sight, Alex got up, leaving the window open, and walked out of the room. She wondered round the house until she found Aunt Linda who was washing up dishes in the kitchen, Ben and Kim where also there, sitting around the table. Moon, who had been following Alex, jumped onto Alex's arms making Alex jump but she held the cat securely.

"Hi, Aunt Linda, Ben, Kim." Alex greeted them.

"Hi dear, where did you get that cat?" Aunt Linda asked staring at Moon.

"At Diagon Alley. It's really cool! We went to Gringotts and they were goblins and…"

"Well, honey," Aunt Linda interrupted Alex before she could tell them about her day. "I've thought this through, and, well, I think it might be better for us, for everyone, if you went to Stanborough and not this magic school." Aunt Linda said. Alex froze. There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Why?" She asked quietly.

"Be…because, well, you'll all be going to the same school and it a really good school where you'll get a good job." Aunt Linda said carefully.

"I've already got my stuff." Alex said.

"Well, we…we can return it."

"It doesn't really matter if it's not the same school as Kim and Ben. It's a boarding school." Alex said.

"MAGIC KILLED YOUR PARENTS AND BROTHER, DO YOU REALLY WANT GO TO A SCHOOL WHERE THEY PRACTICE THAT?" Aunt Linda shouted making Alex, Moon, Ben and Kim jump. It was the first time Aunt Linda had ever shouted at her.

"I have my own reasons for wanting to go." Alex said calmly, forcing herself to refrain from shouting.

"WHAT COULD THEY BE? WHAT COULD BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN STAYING AWAY FROM MAGIC? IT KILLED MY SISTER!" Aunt Linda seemed to have been drained of energy. Alex thought for the first time, how her Aunt must be feeling. She was right; her mother had been her Aunt's younger sister. They had grown up together. Her Aunt had known her for much longer than Alex had. Aunt Linda knelt down on the floor, sobbing her hands covered in soap suds. Alex ran over to her Aunt at the same time Kim did. Kim shot Alex a look of disgust and shoved her away from Aunt Linda. Alex landed on the floor and felt herself being dragged up by someone. She looked round to see Ben pulling her up. She stood up and Moon jumped out of her arms.

"Come on. You'd better go upstairs until they've calmed down." He said pulling Alex towards the door. They exited the kitchen and ran up the stairs and into Alex's room. Alex was glad she could no longer here her Aunts sobs. Alex was crying herself`. Moon curled on Alex's lap when she sat down; reassuring her that everything would be alright. Ben sat next to Alex and waited until she had stopped crying. Alex had always gotten along with Ben, since they were almost the same age. She was, however, surprised that he was with her instead of downstairs. She wiped her eyes and stood up, carrying Moon. Ben also stood up.

"So, what are you going to do?" He asked and Alex shrugged. "I mean, are you going to go to Hogwarts then?" Alex nodded.

"Yes, I've already sent the confirmation letter." She said. Ben nodded.

"I don't think mum will take it well. Why are you going anyway?" He asked and Alex shook my head, signalling that she didn't want to talk about it. He sighed.

"I hope she's okay." Alex said. She hated seeing her Aunt like that.

"She will be, she's just had a lot to cope with. It wasn't your fault; she's been like that for ages. She was a wreck when she came to pick me up." He reassured her and she nodded. "Hey, no wonder its cold in here, your window's open." He said walking to it to close it.

"No, don't, it's for Ghost." Alex told him and he froze.

"Ghost?"

"My owl, he's just delivering the confirmation letter. He needs to be able to get back."

"An owl? Is that even legal?" He asked and Alex laughed.

"I don't know."

"So, when does your school start?" Ben asked.

"1st September. Ghost's bringing back the train ticket."

"Oh, where is it?" Alex thought about it and realised that she didn't know. Nobody had told her.

"I'm not sure actually." she said and he laughed.

"I guess you'll find out on the ticket." He said and she nodded. "Well, I better go and help Kim." He said. He left and Alex put Moon down. Alex had a shower and changed into her pyjamas and, ignoring the fact that she hadn't had any dinner, went to bed with Moon curled up next to her.

The next day was sunny. Alex woke up, changed and went downstairs uncertainly. Aunt Linda was in the kitchen, as usual, and smiled at Alex half-heartedly as she greeted her and gave her some cereal. Kim, however, just glared. It was strange for her. She was always so nice and had never glared at Alex before yesterday. While Alex was eating my breakfast, Ghost swooped down the stairs and landed on her shoulder clutching something in his beak. Aunt Linda and Kim shrieked and Alex quickly left the room with Ghost. Ghost gave her an envelope when they were out of sight. Alex opened it and pulled out the piece of paper inside it. It was her train ticket and a little note. The note read:

'_Dear Miss Adams,_

_Enclosed in the envelope is your train ticket. _

_The train will be leaving at 11 am sharp on _

_September 1st at Kings Cross station in London._

_Yours sincerely_

_Deputy Headmistress'_

Alex read the ticket next.

'_London to Hogwarts _

_One way travel_

_Platform 9 ¾'_

Platform 9 ¾? Alex wasn't sure if there was such a platform. She certainly never remembered seeing one. She walked up stairs to her room with Ghost still on her shoulder and sat down on her bed. Moon walked up to her and sat down next to her.

'_Have you got your ticket?' _She asked. Alex nodded.

"Yes, but I think it's wrong. It says platform 9 ¾. I've never heard of it."

'_No, it's right. It's there, but its secret, magic folk only.' _Moon reassured her.

"Okay, if you say so." Alex said and lay down on her bed, causing Ghost to swoop up into the air to avoid getting squashed.

The next few weeks passed slowly and by August 31st, Alex had flicked through most of her books and mastered a few simple spells, one to open things, _Alohomora_, one that made birds come out of the end of her wand, _Avis,_ one that shot a jet of water from her wand, _Aguamenti _and the extension charm Cho had Linda had spent the time in a sort of daze, half-heartedly walking around the house. Kim had spent the time avoiding Alex and shooting her disgusted looks every time she saw her. Ben was out at his friends most of the time.

Alex had already packed her stuff and was just waiting for the chance to ask for a lift to Kings Cross the next morning. She found the perfect chance at around dinner time. Alex had managed to corner Aunt Linda who had been trying to avoid her.

"Hi, Aunt Linda, please can you give me a lift tomorrow morning to Kings Cross station?" Aunt Linda looked around the room for help but no one was there. Alex felt a bit bad but she really needed a lift.

"I guess I can take you. What time do you need to be there?" she asked, defeated.

"Before 11 am." Alex said. She didn't want to be late. Aunt Linda nodded and hurried away. Alex smiled and went to make sure her things were ready for the next day.

_**A.N: So that was chapter 3. Sorry, not much happens in this chapter but i couldn't really miss it out. The next one will be more exciting. It's coming soon, probably later today because I've finished writing it, just have to read it through. Please review and tell me what you think. :P**_


	5. Chapter 4 platform 9 and three quarters

_**A.N: Here's chapter 4. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks to tessbradiwalsh who just reviewed my last chapter. I'm sorry but I can't answer either of your questions just yet, you'll need to read and find out. **_**;) **_**Also thanks to both**_** tessbradiwalsh **_**and**_** RandomMoo92 **_**for reminding me what Jame's eye colour was. (Sorry, i forgot :'-D)**_

_**Disclaimer: I dont own the Harry Potter series , characters or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters.**_

Chapter 4 – Platform 9 ¾

Alex sat in the back seat of the car, clutching her shoulder bag which had in it everything she needed (she had used the extension charm she had learnt). Ghost was perched on her shoulder and his cage was in her bag. Moon sat on her lap and Alex was wearing charcoal skinny jeans and a white zip hoodie over a skin tight orange t-shirt and a pair of converse high tops. Her black hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Her Aunt and Kim sat in the front of the car and Ben and her in the back. She was nervous and had already caught herself biting her bottom lip a few times.

"We're here." Her Aunt said as she stopped outside Kings Cross station. "Do you want us to come in with you?" She asked and Alex shook her head.

"It's okay. I'll see you at Christmas, okay?" Her Aunt agreed and Alex took a deep breath and got out of the car. She slung her shoulder bag over her shoulder and Ghost soared up into the air. Alex didn't worry because she knew Ghost would follow her. Moon sat round her neck, her tail hanging down Alex's shoulder.

Alex waved at the car as it drove away then headed into the station. She spent at least five minutes navigating herself round the station until she finally found where platform 9 ¾ should have been. Only, it wasn't there. She looked at the platforms. Platform 8, platform 9, platform 10. No 9 3/4. She ignored the curious stares because of Ghost and Moon and asked one of the people passing. He was, unfortunately, a Muggle and laughed at her and told her there was no such thing.

"Moon, you said it was here!" She whispered to her cat once the man had gone.  
_'It is, can you see the barrier between platforms 9 and 10?'_ Alex nodded, looking at it. It was made of brick and arched over each of the two platforms, coming down in the middle making a small wall. _'Just walk through it, you'll be able to because you're a witch. Just make sure you don't stop.'_ Moon said. Alex had her doubts but couldn't see anything else to do, so, feeling like a fool, she walked towards the barrier, taking a deep breath. She was about to hit it, she waited for the impact but it didn't come. She just carried on walking. Then, suddenly, she heard laughter and screeches and the sound of parents telling their children to be good this term. She opened her eyes and realised she had stepped into a completely different platform. She turned round to face were she had just come from and saw a wrought iron archway bearing the words Platform Nine and Three Quarters over the entry and exit to the platform. She had done it. She turned back around and walked through the bustle of the platform, Ghost on her shoulder and Moon in her arms.

"Tom, have you got your quill?" a middle aged woman asked a boy who confirmed that yes, he did.

"Scorpius Malfoy, what are you looking at." A man with bleach blond hair snapped at a boy the same age as Alex. He also had bleach blonde hair and had been looking wistfully at a family who were laughing and joking.

"N…nothing." He said averting his gaze.

"Good. Don't get mixed up with those type. There bad news, the lot of them." The man said.

"Yes papa." The boy said.

Alex walked passed them, feeling sorry for the boy who obviously just wanted to have fun. She made her way to the front of the platform to get onto the train. It was a large red steam engine and on the front, written in gold letters, was Hogwarts Express. Alex boarded the train and found an empty compartment. She sat down by the window and Moon jumped out of her arms and sat on the seat next to her. Ghost stayed perched on her shoulder. There was five minutes before 11 so Alex decided to text her Aunt to tell her that she had gotten on the train. Her mobile got a bad signal but eventually the text sent and Alex decided to switch her mobile off. The compartment door slid open and a boy and girl the same age as Alex peered round the corner.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" The girl asked and Alex shook her head.

"I don't mind."

"Okay, thanks." The boy said and they walked in and sat on two chairs opposite Alex. They were six chairs in total in the compartment, three on either side. The boy had a mop of jet black hair and green eyes, the girl had curly gingery brown hair and brown eyes. She was already wearing the Hogwarts uniform, a black, pleated skirt, a white shirt, black flats and knee length socks under a black cloak. She didn't have her hat on. The boy was wearing jeans and a hoodie.

"Hi, I'm Rose Weasley." The girl said smiling at Alex.

"And I'm Albus Potter." The boy said also smiling. Albus Potter! Harry Potters son! Alex did a good job of hiding her shock and just smiled and said.

"I'm Alexandra Adams, but you can call me Alex."

"Are you a first year too?" Rose asked and Alex nodded her head.

"Same." Albus said. "Which house do you want to be in? I want to be in Gryffindor. I think it's the best house! My mum and dad were in Gryffindor."

"So were mine, but I want to be in Ravenclaw." Rose said. "What about you Alex?"

"What are the houses?" Alex asked. She hadn't heard of them before.

"Well, there are four of them, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Huffelpuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor values bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry. Its emblematic animal is the lion and its colours are scarlet and gold. Huffelpuff values hard work, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. Its emblematic animal is the badger, and Black and Yellow are its colours. Ravenclaw values intelligence, knowledge, and wit. Its emblematic animal is the eagle, and its colours are blue and bronze and Slytherin values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness. Its emblematic animal is the serpent, and its colours are green and silver." Rose recited. Alex thought it sounded like something you find in a text book. "The people in each house eat meals together, live together and have classes together."

"Oh, okay." Alex said. "Well I'm not sure. Do we get to choose?"

"No. There's this ceremony they call the sorting. We have to wear a special hat and it will tell us what house we are in." Albus said and Rose nodded.

"They say it can read your mind!"

"Wow!" Alex said and Ghost hooted softly. Harry and Rose's stares turned to the owl and cat by Alex, just noticing them.

"Oh, wow! You have a cat and an owl?" Rose breathed. "Most people only have one." Alex, not knowing what to say, just nodded.

"Are you a pure blood?" Albus asked.

"A pure blood?" Alex asked.

"Are all of your family wizards?" Rose clarified.

"No." Alex said.

"Half-blood?" Albus asked and again Rose explained it.

"Do you have one magic parent and one not, or along those lines?"

"N...no."

"Then you're a Muggle born?" Albus asked. Rose explained.

"Both your parents are Muggles."

"Yeah." Alex said, wondering why it mattered.

"Oh, so your family's rich then and they gave you the money for both of them." Albus concluded.

"No. They're not rich and they didn't give me the money." Alex said and the two looked at her curiously.

"Then how did you get them, they're expensive, owls and cats." Rose said.

"Well, it's weird. I went to Gringotts to open an account, but the goblin told me that someone had already opened an account for me. They had my picture and everything! And when we went in, it was full of money. I have no idea who it is because I didn't know any one that was magic and they didn't leave a name." Alex voiced something that had been troubling her for a long time.

"That is weird." Albus said and Rose nodded. They decided to drop the topic and went back to talking about pets.

"My mum bought me a cat. It's fluffy and orange and called Tips. My mum had a cat when she went to Hogwarts. It was called Crookshanks." Rose said.

"My dad bought me a snowy owl called Apollo. He had an owl when he was in Hogwarts." Albus smiled. "Well he's not really mine; I share him with my older brother, James." At that moment the compartment door slid open again and in walked a boy with a mop of brown hair, brown eyes and an arrogant smirk. Two boys followed him in, the first with dreadlocks and the second with blonde hair.

"Hi Albus, Rose." The blonde haired boy greeted them. "Do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure Louis." Rose said and the three boys sat down. They all looked about a year older than Alex and about a head taller.

"So, who's this?" the brown haired boy that Alex thought looked a bit like Albus, asked smirking.

"That's Alex Adams." Albus said.

"Hey." Alex greeted them and Ghost hooted again.

"Cool owl. What's he called?" the boy with the dreadlocks, who was sitting next to Alex, asked.

"Ghost." she answered ruffling Ghost's head feathers.

"Nice name. I'm Ash Jordan by the way." The boy said. "That's Louis Weasley, Rose's cousin, and James Potter, Albus's brother." Ash pointed them out. Louis was the blonde one and James was the one with brown hair and brown eyes.

"Yeah, we're the famous Potters!" James laughed and Albus grimaced. Alex didn't like James's attitude but she ignored the comment. "I don't think I've heard of your family before. Who are your parents?"

"You won't know them; they're Muggles, from America." Alex warned James.

"I might. Us Potters are very well connected you know. We even know some of the Muggle families." James said, smirking.

"Okay then. Hannah and David Adams." Before James could say anything, Rose jumped up.

"Are you serious?" Alex nodded, surprised. "Hannah and David Adams! They were in the Daily Prophet five years ago!"

"What's the Daily Prophet?" Alex asked and everyone stared at her.

"It's a popular wizard's newspaper." Albus explained before Rose continued her story.

"Why were they in?" Ash asked.

"It was when Phoenix made his first appearance publicly. He was only 13 years old. Before he was said to be working secretly. They were his first kill!" Rose explained and everyone gasped except from Alex who looked out of the window, clenching her teeth to control her anger.

"Really? He was only 13? Like our age? But why choose two random Muggles?" Louis asked. It was a question she had been asking herself for a long time. Why did he choose her parents? The question turned over and over in her head, but she never found an answer.

"I don't know but he must have had a reason." Rose said and the other four agreed. Alex stayed silent, not really wanting to participate in this conversation.

"Phoenix is mad." Albus said shaking his head.

"Is Phoenix his real name?" Alex spoke up suddenly. The thought just came to her. Maybe he wasn't actually called Phoenix; she needed his real name if she wanted to find him.

"No one knows." Rose said. "He's very good at hiding. No one has caught him and he's only seen if he wants to be." Alex bit her lip. That would make it almost impossible for her to find him. But she had to try.

"Maybe he has an invisibility cloak." James said.

"Maybe, but it's not the original. Dad still has that one." Albus said.

"The original?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, it's one of the Deathly Hallows. There are three of them, the invisibility cloak, the Elder wand and the resurrection stone." Albus said. "Dad had all of them at one point, but he threw the resurrection stone and the Elder wand away. He still has the cloak though. His dad left it to him."

"What does the Elder wand do?" Alex asked. She could more or less guess what the invisibility cloak and resurrection stone did."

"It's the most powerful wand in the world. I wonder why Uncle Harry threw it away." Rose said.

"So, where are they?" Alex asked. Maybe if she had them, she could find Phoenix. Maybe she could even bring her parents back to life.

"I don't know. Lost somewhere, but their probably no good because otherwise dad wouldn't have thrown them away. Maybe they have some bad consequences with using them."

"Oh, they did. If you have the wand, all the wizards and witches will try to kill you, so that they can claim it and the resurrection stone raises spirits from the dead. However, only you can see them and they are very unhappy if you bring them back, because they want to move on." Rose said. She was very smart, Alex realised. She banished the thoughts of using the Hallows to find Phoenix. She would just have to do it the hard way.

Just then, the compartment door slid open again to reveal a plump little witch pushing a trolley filled with wrapped sweets and treats Alex had never seen before.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" the witch asked, smiling.

_**A.N: hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll try and have the next one up soon, but since I haven't started writing it yet, it might take a few days. Please review and tell me what you think. :P**_


	6. Chapter 5 the sorting

_**A.N: Here's chapter 5. I'm sorry it took me so long to uplode this chapter because I had to write it from scratch and I have been revising for some exams i have next week. However, I've made it extra long, so, forgive me? :-P hope you enjoy it anyway!**_

_****__********__****__Disclaimer: I dont own the Harry Potter series , characters or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters._

Chapter 5 - the sorting hat

Alex settled back into her seat holding a sweet wrapped in a purple wrapper and labelled _'Chocolate Frogs'_ and a packet of _'Drouble's best blowing gum'_. She was just about to unwrap a chocolate frog when, out of her eye, she saw the boy with bleach blond hair from earlier walk passed the open compartment door.

"Hey, it's Malfoy." James sneered loudly. The boy turned round to see James smirking. "Is your Dad in Azkaban yet?" the boy froze, his hands by his sides in tight fists.

"My dad's a good wizard!" The boy shouted and James laughed.

"Sure he is." James laughed sarcastically. "Did your dad ever tell you about the time my dad saved his life? You owe me Malfoy."

"I don't owe you anything, you arrogant git!" Malfoy yelled. James stood up, still smirking.

"What did you say?"

"You're an arrogant git." He repeated. James whipped his wand out of the pocket of his jeans and within seconds, was pointing it at the boy.

"You want to be careful with who you mess with Malfoy. My dad's a powerful wizard. I'll teach you to respect your superiors." James was still smirking. Alex jumped up, startling Ghost who was sitting on her shoulder and Moon who was sitting on her lap. Moon jumped onto the floor and Ghost flew up into the air. Before Alex new what she was doing, she had her own wand out and was pointing it at James. James turned around, startled.

"Leave him alone you jerk." Alex said. She'd had enough of his attitude.

"You stay out of it. You don't know anything about it." James said turning around and pointing his wand at Alex.

"_Aguamenti_." Alex said calmly and a jet of water shot out of her wand and drenched James. She smiled as she took in his shocked face. It served him right. She heard laughter from behind her as she left the compartment.

Malfoy was watching the scene, smirking, as Alex walked up to him.

"Hey. Malfoy, is it? Where are you sitting?" Alex asked, grinning.

"I'll show you if you like. Why though?" he was still smirking.

"I don't think they'll want me sitting there now. Even though I was there first." Alex laughed.

"Well, I guess you can sit with me. I have my own compartment. The people I was sharing it with went down the train. Apparently someone's selling Weasleys Wizard Weezys products." Malfoy said as he and Alex walked down the train. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy by the way."

"I'm Alexandra Adams. But you can call me Alex." Alex said smiling as they reached and entered Malfoy's compartment. Alex sat down on the seat opposite Malfoy, next to the window and Moon jumped up onto the seat next to her.

"Hey, Scorpius. Do you want a chocolate frog? You didn't end up buying anything, did you?" Alex asked as she took the three chocolate frogs out of her hoodie pocket and tossed one to Malfoy, who caught it.

"Thanks Alex." he said unwrapping it. To Alex's surprise, the chocolate frog jumped out of its wrapper and tried to make a break for it, but Malfoy caught it and it went still. He popped it into his mouth and then took a card out if the wrapper. He grinned.

"Yes! I've been trying to get this card for ages! You must be good luck Alex." He said and when Alex asked what the cards were, he told her how people collected them. They all had some facts and a picture of a famous witch or wizard on them and they were a few hundred of them to collect.

Wanting to see her cards, Alex opened one of her frogs. She caught the frog, which froze in her hand, and put it in her mouth as she flipped the card over. She almost spat it back out when a picture of a black haired wizard with green eyes and a scar shaped like lightning flashed a smile at her and waved before walking out of the picture. Over the picture in bold red lettering was the name Harry Potter.

"H...he m...moved!" Alex gasped and Malfoy laughed.

"'Course he did. He is a picture."

"In the Muggle world, pictures don't move." Alex said getting over her shock.

"Really? Don't they get tiered?" Malfoy asked seriously and it was Alex's turn to laugh.

"No. They're not alive!"

"Really? That's strange." Malfoy said and Alex shook her head.

"Whatever. So where's he gone?" she asked looking at the blank frame.

"You can't expect him to stay I side his frame forever!" Malfoy chuckled.

"In the Muggle world they do!" Alex explained studying the card as Harry Potter strolled back into his frame and waved. So that's what the famous Harry Potter looked like. He was like an older version of Albus but with glasses and a scar on his forehead. It was easy to see that Albus was his son.  
Alex and Malfoy talked a bit about what Hogwarts might be like and about the houses. Alex found out Malfoy wanted to be in Slytherin because his whole family had been in Slytherin.

Malfoy told Alex a bit more about the houses and she secretly decided that she didn't really want to be in Slytherin or Huffelpuff. Gryffindor sounded alright but when she heard that James Potter was in Gryffindor, she changed her mind. The other option was Ravenclaw and Alex decided that she wanted to be in that house. She was smart and loved the colour blue. She did not, however, want to be in Slytherin. She didn't have anything against Malfoy and she was sure they were some decent people in Slytherin, but Alex had a bad feeling about the house. She opened her second chocolate frog and ate it, but, deciding that she didn't want to collect the cards, gave her card to Malfoy who put it in his pocket along with his own.

Malfoy told her about his father and mother, Draco and Astoria Malfoy. How they hated the Potters and Weasleys. Then he asked about Alex's parents and she had to go over the painful topic all over again. She made it as brief as she could, not wanting to get into the details. She hadn't gotten far in her story however, when Malfoy interrupted her.

"Weren't they in the Daily Prophet five years ago?" Malfoy asked when Alex mentioned her parents.

"That's what I've heard." Alex said glumly.

"It was all over the news for several weeks. The Aurors are still trying to find Phoenix but no one's seen him for at least two years, in fact most people have forgotten about him, think he's gone. But I don't think so; I think he's just hiding, gathering an army or something. There was something like that ages ago. I think they called it the battle of Hogwarts. My dad was there you know!" Malfoy said proudly and Ale sighed. So Phoenix was either gone or in hiding. Alex had missed feeling about that. On one hand, it would make it very difficult to find him. On the other, however, it would mean that it was highly unlikely that anyone else would find him and kill him, so when Alex _did _find him, he would be alive and ready for Alex to take revenge.

A few hours later, Rose opened the compartment door. Alex and Malfoy looked up at her as she stood in the entry.

"We're almost at Hogwarts. You should get changed into you're uniform." She told Alex. Alex nodded and stood up and followed Rose to the changing rooms in the back of the train. Alex put on her uniform, leaving the pointy hat off, and went back into the compartment followed by Rose.

Malfoy had also changed and now wore the boys' uniform, Black trousers, shoes and a white shirt under a similar black cloak to the girls'. Rose sat next to Alex and the three of them chatted about Hogwarts. Alex told them how shocked she had been when Cho had arrived at her doorstep and told her she was a Witch. Rose and Malfoy laughed and Rose told her that her mum was also a Muggle born.

After another hour or so, they felt the train come to a smooth stop. They looked out of the window to find that it was night. "We're here!" Rose called excitedly and Alex grinned, equally excited. "We leave our bags here, someone comes and takes them in for us. I think you should also leave your cat and owl, Alex." Rose said and Alex nodded. She told Moon and Ghost that she would see them later.

'_Good luck!' _Moon told her and Ghost hooted softly. Rose slid the compartment door open and the three of them joined the rush of bodies that were exiting the train.

"Hey. Rose, Alex!" A voice called from the crowded passageway and the two girls turned round. It was Albus, squeezing his way through the crowd towards them. He reached them just as they had gotten off the train.

"First years! Any First years?" A giant of a man with unruly brown hair and a beard called out repeatedly.

"Hagrid!" Albus and Rose called out and the man looked up.

"Albus, Rose! C'm 'eer" Hagrid called and Alex, Rose and Scorpius followed Albus to Hagrid. Albus and Rose hugged Hagrid and Alex and Malfoy hung back awkwardly. "'You excited about going to Hogwarts?" he asked and Albus and Rose nodded. "I see you've made a new friend." Hagrid said smiling at Alex with two small beetle eyes.

"Yes, this is Alex." Rose said and Alex smiled and greeted him.

"Well you wait 'eer while I gather up the first years." Hagrid said to them before walking away calling the First years as he went. They waited, watching as the train cleared. Alex watched as the people pile into carriages pulled by what looked like winged horses. They looked quite spooky, completely black except for the eyes that were white and emotionless. They a skeletal body and a face with reptilian features and a pair of wide, leathery wings that slightly resembled a bat's.

"What are those?" She asked Rose who looked over at the carriages.

"They're the carriages that the other students ride in to get to Hogwarts." She explained.

"No, I mean the thing pulling the carriage." Alex said.

"Nothing's pulling the carriage." Rose said peering at the carriages. "It's probably some sort of spell to make them move on their own."

"No, those are Thestrals." Albus spoke up. "My dad told me about them. You can only see them if you've watched someone die. That's why we can't see them." So they were Thestrals. They looked quite scary, Alex thought.

Soon after Hagrid came back up to them, leading a group of first years. "Alright, let's go. Follow me!" Hagrid said and the first years followed him down to a huge lake. By the shore, in the water, sat lots of little boats. "Alright. Four to a boat." Hagrid said and the first years started to filter into the boats. Alex, Rose, Albus and Scorpius got into a boat and waited for everyone to get settled in. Once everyone was in a boat, Hagrid (who took up a whole boat) smiled as he said, "Okay, let's go!" and with that, the little boats started to move across the dark lake.

They sat in the moving boats for around twenty minutes before they caught their first glimpse of Hogwarts. Alex gasped along with the other students as they saw it. Hogwarts. A huge castle made of stone complete with towers and turrets. It rested in the middle of a gigantic valley and had a huge lake surrounding the south side of it. Alex stared, transfixed, at the castle. It was light up and looked eerie in the darkness. She was so entranced that she jumped when the boats gently bumped against the bank on the other side of the lake. They got out of their boats and followed Hagrid up some stairs that were set in the rocky hillside, leading to the castle.

Hagrid stopped them outside a huge, double, solid looking oak door. He knocked and almost immediately it was opened by a witch wearing an emerald green cloak and pointy witch's hat. She was middle aged and had mousey brown hair that was pulled back into a bun. She beckoned them in and Hagrid left. She turned to the first years, who were crowded together in the large entrance hall.

"Hello first years, I'm Professor Susan Bones, the deputy head." She greeted the first years. They were standing in a huddle, looking around at the huge and unfamiliar room. "Please wait here for a while. You'll be going into the main hall in a bit for the sorting. It's a sort of test. It will determine which house you'll be in." She said before she left. The first years stood closer together and a wave of nausea hit Alex who gripped Rose's hand. She was nervous. By the looks on everyone else's faces, they were too. Alex wondered what they would have to do. Maybe some spells or a general test. She counted the spells she knew in her head. 1, 2, 3, 4. She knew four spells. But would that be enough? She doubted it. Or there could be the general test. What if it wasn't on normal things like science, maths or English? What if it was on magical things? Things Alex knew next to nothing about. What if she did so badly that they sent her away? What if she lost her only chance of finding the man who killed her family? The nauseating feeling grew in Alex's stomach as Professor Bones came back. Professor Bones put the first years into Alphabetical order for surnames. Alex frowned because she was near the front. She would just have to try her hardest. She couldn't fail this. She just couldn't, she refused to. She stood up straighter and followed the others. They were led away from the entrance, through a corridor and through a pair of double doors into the great hall. Alex gasped as she looked around the room, as did the other first years. The main hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting_._ Mainly to avoid all of the staring eyes Alex looked up at the ceiling. To her surprise, it didn't look like there was a ceiling at all. It was velvety black and dotted with stars. She heard Rose whisper beside her. "It's bewitched to look like the sky. I read about it in _Hogwarts a History_." Alex turned her eyes back to in front of her as Professor Bones silently placed a four legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a pointy wizard's hat. The hat was patched and frayed. Alex looked at the hat curiously. Maybe it was part of their test, maybe they had to get a rabbit out of it, or make it disappear. It seemed like the sort of thing a wizard or witch might do. The rest of the hall was staring at the hat, waiting. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then, the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and, to Alex's surprise, the hat began to sing.

_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me._

You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors' apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs' are true  
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables before becoming still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Rose whispered and Albus nodded.

"Yeah. My dad told me this morning."

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Alex asked.

"You never asked."

Alex sighed with relief but she didn't really feel much better. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but she wished they could have tried it on without everyone watching.

Professor Bones stepped forward. "Now, when I call out your name, sit on the stool to be sorted." She paused for a moment looking at the first years. They were no longer in the alphabetical line she had carefully put them in. They had left the line to stand with their friends. She sighed before saying.

"Abbott, Avery." A pink faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line and carefully put on the hat, which fell down over her eyes and sat down. There was a moments' pause before the hat shouted,

"Hufflepuff!" The table on the far right cheered as the girl stood up and took off the hat, looking slightly relieved and went to sit down on the Hufflepuff table.

"Aaron, Roxanne." Professor Bones called out and a girl the same height as Alex stepped out of the line. She had curly black hair pulled back into a pony tail and tanned skin. She put the hat on and sat down. It also fell over her eyes. There was another pause before the hat shouted out.

"Ravenclaw!" Roxanne got up as the second table to the left cheered and went to sit down.

"Adams, Alex." Professor Bones called out and Alex froze. It was her turn. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself and stepped out of the crowed of first years. She walked over to the stool and put the hat on. The hat slipped over her eyes and she sat down, looking at the dark inside of the hat. _Hmm, _said a small voice in her ear, _'Difficult.' _The hat mused._ 'You have a brilliant mind and a brave and loyal heart; however, you are ambitious and cunning, a bit of each house. So where shall I put you.'_

Alex gripped the edge of the stool nervously and thought really hard._ 'I want to find Phoenix. Put me in the house that will help me find Phoenix!' _

'_You want to find Phoenix? An impossible goal.' _The hat told her.

'_I have to! He killed my family!' _Alex told the hat. _'Please help me!'_

'_Well, I guess I could… the house that helps you find Phoenix you say? I'm not sure there is a house that can do that for you. But I guess you can try. Well…it should be…' _the hat paused before shouting"Ravenclaw." to the rest of the hall. Alex stood up and took the hat off, putting it back on the stool as the Ravenclaw table cheered and clapped. She went and sat down on the bench next to Roxanne. Once Alex was sitting down, she could see the high table more clearly. Hagrid gave her a thumbs up and she smiled. In the centre of the high table, in a large gold chair, sat an old witch wearing a black cloak. She had greying hair that was scraped into a tight bun and her face was stern but kind. _She must be the headmistress. _Alex thought.

Professor Bones called out the next name, "Becket, Amber." And she became the first Gryffindor. Alex watched as students tried on the hat and then went to sit at their tables. A few more people passed before it was Scorpius Malfoy's turn. He was put in Slytherin and he walked over to the table, looking proud with himself. After a while Alex started to pay less attention to the people who were being sorted. She did see Albus being sorted into Gryffindor with James. When it was Rose's turn, Alex paid closer attention. Rose walked up and tried on the hat. After a few minutes, it shouted, "Ravenclaw!" and Rose jumped up and went to join Alex on the Ravenclaw's table. Alex gave her a high five her as she sat down, grinning. There were only five more people left to be sorted and it took less than five minutes for them to be sitting in their houses.

Once everyone was sorted, Professor Bones rolled up her scroll and took the sorting hat away. The headmistress got to her feet and smiled at the students.

"Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts. To any of you who don't know, I am Professor McGonagall, the Headmistress of this school. Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. I hope we have another excellent year at Hogwarts and please look out for all of the first years. That's all, may the feast begin!" She sat back down and everybody clapped and cheered. Alex looked back at the table and gasped as she saw the once empty dishes. They were now piled with food. Alex had never seen so much food on one table. There was every type of food she could think of and even some she had never seen before. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, eggs cooked in every way she could think of. There were chips, potatoes, pasta, spaghetti, noodles, and different types of bread, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, salad, tomatoes, gravy, ketchup, mayonnaise and for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. Alex looked around the table, trying to take everything in. After a few minutes, everyone started to dig in to the feast, so, Alex piled her plate with a bit of everything, apart from the humbugs and began to eat. It was all delicious.

She was half way through her meal when she noticed everyone turn their heads to the front of the great hall. She also turned to look with everyone else. She gasped in shock as four silvery, almost transparent figures melted through the wall and into the great hall. They were…Ghosts!

They glided towards the four tables slowly. It seemed like each ghost belonged to one of the four houses. A tall, female ghost with dark wavy hair that reached her lower back floated up to the Ravenclaw's table. She was wearing a white dress that looked like it belonged in the medieval times. Her skin was fair and she held her head up proudly. She smiled and waved at the Ravenclaws as she neared the table.

"Hello my dear Ravenclaw's." She greeted the table. "And to the first years who may not have heard of me before, I am Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of the Ravenclaw house. I am Ravenclaw's ghost. She smiled and hovered by the tables, chatting with some of the students as they finished their meals. Once they had finished, the plates disappeared and were almost immediately replaced with dessert dishes. There was, like the main course, every single dessert Alex could imagine. However, she was quite full and only had room for a scoop of ice cream. They washed their meals down with a glass of pumpkin juice, which Alex had never tried before but liked instantly.

Once the feast was over, the plates vanished and Professor McGonagall stood up again. The hall fell silent as he began to talk.

"Now that we are fed and watered, I have a few notices to give you. As always, the forbidden forest is out of bounds to _all _students. I have also been asked by Master Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second wing of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Professor Woods. And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the School song. For those of you who don't know the tune, then just follow the words, you'll learn soon enough." Professor McGonagall gave her wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of the end. It rose high above the tables and twisted itself into words. "Okay, one two three…" The great hall burst into song, save for the first years, who didn't know the tune.

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling,  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot."_

The song ended and every one broke into applause. Alex though it was a silly song but didn't say anything. The tune was quite catchy though. "That's all for tonight. Now, bed time. First years, please follow your prefects to your common rooms and dorms."

"First years, come this way, first years!" The two Ravenclaw prefects gathered all of the first years into a huddle and then separated them into girls and boys. Alex stood with the girls, looking up at one of the prefects. She had long blonde hair and was extremely pretty.

"Hello, first years. I'm Victorie Weasley, one of the prefects. He's Nicholas Gabbens; he's also a prefect." She gestured to the other prefect who was talking with the boys. "Now follow me and I'll take you to the dorms." She said and the girls followed her out of the Great hall and up a marble staircase. Alex's legs felt like lead because she had just realised she was tiered and full of food. They walked for ages, going up stair cases and through corridors. She was too tired to be surprised that a staircase moved as they were walking by and that the people in the painting along the walls were talking and waving at them as they walked passed.

She felt like she had been walking forever when they finally stopped outside a door after climbing a long, winding staircase. By the side of the door, on the wall, was an electrical blue, modern looking pad. Victorie walked towards it and placed her hand on it. It came to life, scanning her hand before they heard a soft click coming from the door. "You have to scan your hand to enter the common room. We have already installed all of your hand prints already, so it will recognise you. We used to have a system where you were asked a question but the room kept getting broken into because people would start bringing books with them to find the answer. One of the Ravenclaw students invented this actually. It's very cleaver because electrical things don't usually work in the Hogwarts barrier. But this does." She exclaimed as she opened the door and let them in.

The Ravenclaw common room was wide and circular and decorated mostly in blue. It had a fluffy midnight blue carpet arched windows hung with soft blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by a door, which Alex guessed led up to the dormitories, stood a tall statue made of white marble of a lady that looked quite a lot like the ghost Helena Ravenclaw. Maybe it was Rowena Ravenclaw.

"During the day we have an excellent view of the school grounds, including the lake, Forbidden Forest, Quidditch pitch, Herbology gardens and the surrounding mountains. It's because we're in one of the towers." Victorie explained. "The girls' dormitories are through there, through the door to the right and up the stairs. The boys' dormitories are through the left door." Alex was right, it was to the dormitories. She and the other first year girls followed Victorie through the door and up the marble, spiral staircase, into the girls' dormitories. There were seven doors, one for each year group and they went through the first.

There was blue silk draped over the archway that led from the stairs to the first year girls' dormitories. They walked through it and came into another airy, circular room. It had a light wooden floor and the walls were painted a light blue. The ceiling was also domed and there were similar windows round the walls to the common room. There was another door leading out of the dorm. In the room there were six four poster beds with blue sheets, pillows and duvets and silk curtains lined round the room, one for each of the six girls including Alex. Next to the beds were fancy white, wooden bedside tables and chest of draws to put their things in.

Alex noticed that there bags had already been brought up and when Victorie told the girls where their beds were, Alex noticed that Moon was already sleeping on hers. Her bed was in the middle of Rose's and Roxanne's beds. "The bathrooms are through that door over there, through that door." Victorie told them before leaving the room. Alex decided to have a shower before going to sleep and entered the bathroom along with a few other girls. The bathroom had a short corridor with six doors leading of it. Each of the doors had a name in graved into the door in swirly lettering. Alex quickly found hers and went in. The floor was tiled white as well as the walls and in it was a sink, bath, shower and toilet, all shining white. There was also a shelf lined with soaps and shampoos and conditioners and sponges and a towel hung on a hook. She locked the door, had a shower, brushed her hair and got dressed into her pajamas.

By the time she was finished, most of the girls were going to bed and she was exausted. She climbed under her covers, drew her silk curtains and fell asleep to the sound of wind whistling around the windows of the tower.

_**A.N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 5! I'm going to try and upload a chapter a week. If you were wondering about the Hogwarts song, I have used the tune they used in the movies because I didnt thing prof. McGonagall was the type to be using the old tunes. (If you've read the book you'll know what i mean!). I hope you liked the chapter. Tell me what you think. Please review, it gives me motivation to uplode faster. The more reviews, the faster the chapters come. Also, my friend told me about a site called Pottermore. Aparently its really good. Its now open to the public so check it out!**_

_**Also...**_

**_I've read a few fanficitons and now that I have an account, I want to tell you about some.  
_****_For all of the twilight fans, 'Stuck in twilight' by SaraLovesYou, is really good.  
_****_For the people who like the Vampire Academy books, 'Lost Memories' and 'Breaking her walls down' by ncisfangirl are good._**

**_If you have any fanficitons that you like or that you have written and want me to read them, please review or P.M me._**

**_Now...time for some math..._**

_**Number of hogwarts students:**_

_**Okay, so I Googled how many students they were in Hogwarts and it came up with around 1000. It sounded okay but, once I did the math; it seemed a bit too many.**_

_**I decided to change the number of how many Hogwarts students there would be in Hogwarts in my story because if they were 1000 students in Hogwarts, then there would be 250 students in each house, which also sounds okay (apart from the fact that when I imagine them all gathering in a common room, it would be a bit crowded). But, if you break it down some more, it doesn't quite fit. They are 7 years so, in a house, there would be about 35 people in each year. Half girls half boys. For around 17 people to share a dorm; it would be a little bit squashed and when they have classes, it says that they have two houses in a class (the same years). That would make 70 students in a class room, which is also a bit too many.**_

_**So, I changed the numbers a bit, (hope you don't mind)**_

_**There are 336 students in Hogwarts, which might sound little, but it works. There are 84 students in each house. In each year in a house, there are 12 students, 6 girls and 6 boys. 6 people share a dorm. In a class there would be 24 students (which sounds about right).**_

_**Remember R&R and I'll uplode the next chapter A.S.A.P **_


	7. Chapter 6 HSoW&W

_**A.N: Hey guys, I'm back with a chapter. I'm sorry for taking so long but i had a**__bsolutely no idea what to write. I've sorted it out now though. I haven't read this chapter through because I wanted to put it up today for you guys, so just review if you find any mistakes. So I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll talk to you in a bit. :P xxx_

_****__****__****__Disclaimer: Unfortunatly I dont own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters and the plot of the story._

Chapter 6 – Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Alex woke the next morning to sun streaming through the tower's windows. She pulled away the soft drapes that surrounded her four poster bed and slid her feet out of the warm blankets and down onto the cool wooden floor. She shivered as a cold gust of wind blew through the open window, making the light blue drapes fly wildly.

"Hey, Alex. You up?" a sleepy voice asked from the bed beside Alex's. Rose sat up drowsily and rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, obviously." Alex smiled.

"I was half asleep, it wasn't that obvious!" Rose laughed as she got out of bed. Alex also stood up and turned round to make her bed. She folded the duvet over the cushy pillow and yawned. Stretching her arms wide beside her and eyeing her work with satisfaction. She padded over to the neat pile of her uniform that she had laid on her dressing table the day before. Alex quickly put on her skirt; shirt and the royal blue tie the school had given the Ravenclaw first years. She pulled on a pair of tights, deciding it was too cold for socks. She turned back to Rose and was just about ask her if she wanted to go down for breakfast when she heard a loud yawn sound from Roxanne's bed. She looked over to find Roxanne sitting up, her curly black hair curling down her back. She blinked a few times before her almond shaped eyes recognised Alex.

"Hey, Alex. Is it morning already?" She asked sleepily and Alex laughed.

"Yes, we were just about to go down for breakfast, but we'll wait for you if you hurry." Alex smiled and Roxanne yawned once more before jumping out of bed and donning her uniform. The three girls quickly ran brushes through their hair and washed their faces before putting their robes over their uniform and stepping into their shoes. They laughed and talked about the sorting the day before as they made their way down the stairs and into the common room. It was full of people they didn't recognise but they all smiled and greeted them and offered to take them down to the great hall. The three girls followed Victorie, the prefect, who seemed to be good friends with Rose, down to the great hall where a fantastic breakfast was already laid out for them.

"She's my cousin." Rose told the Alex as the three girls took their seats. "Her dad is my dad's older brother."

Alex didn't have the chance to answer because just then, Victorie, who had just left a few moments before, came running up to them. "First years, gather round, here are your timetables." She handed each of the first years a small rectangular piece of parchment. Alex gently unfolded hers and carefully read the tidy script that sprawled across the page.

_**Day Period 1 Break Period 2 Period 3 Lunch Period 4 Period 5 **_

_**Mon.**__ Charms Herbology D.A.D.A Potions C.O.M.C_

_**Tues.**__ Herbology Potions Potions H.O.M Trans._

_**Wed.**__ D.A.D.A Charms Free Trans. Astronomy*_

_**Thurs.**__ Divination H.O.M D.A.D.A C.O.M.C Astronomy*_

_**Fri.**__ Herbology Trans. Divination Charms Free._

Noticing the asterisks, Alex searched the page for more information and, not finding any, flipped the page over. On the back in the same neat print was what she was looking for.

'_*: Astronomy takes place after tea instead, at around 8:30pm.'_

Under it was another table.

_**Key:**_

_**C.O.M.C – **__Care of Magical Creatures_

_**D.A.D.A – **__Defence Against the Dark Arts_

_**H.O.M – **__History of Magic_

_**Trans. – **__Transfiguration_

_**Free – **__A free period for doing homework etc._

**_-Time passes-_**

"Is this the way?" Alex asked as the three girls rushed through the corridors.

"I'm not sure! I think we've seen this painting before!" Roxanne said, panting heavily.

"_Come on_ you two! We're going to be late! On our_ first_ day!" Rose said grabbing Alex's and Roxanne's hand and pulling them down yet another corridor. They had two minutes before class started and they were hopelessly lost.

"It must be near here!" Alex huffed as they climbed a stair case and set of racing down a hallway.

"Oh yes! I remember this corridor! We walked passed it yesterday and Victorie pointed out the charms corridor!" Roxanne said and the three girls sighed in relief.

"Oh good. We're going to make it!" Rose breathed. They ran down the corridor and paused outside the door to straighten their robes and to get their breath back before walking in. They were relieved to see that the class hadn't started yet and they quickly sat down on three desks near the front. Alex sat down, Rose on her left, Roxanne on the right. She got out her quill and ink before looking up to the teacher's desk. Behind the desk, standing on several books piled on top of each other, was a small man about the size of the goblins at Gringotts. He had white hair and a bit of a beard and, apart from his height, he looked fairly human – no abnormally long hands and feet.

"Ahh! We made it!" a loud voice yelled from the corridor. Seconds later, two boys ran in. One had a mop of black hair and bright green eyes – Albus. The other had red, curly hair and freckles – he looked a bit like Rose. The two boys noticed everyone's eyes on them and averted their gazes to the floor before rushing to their seats.

"Now that everyone's here, we can start the lesson." A high, squeaky voice said from the front of the classroom. Alex turned round to see the tiny man whip out his wand. "I am Professor Flitwick…" A bright light shot out of his wand and arranged itself to spell out _'prof. Flitwick.'_ And the students gasped in delight."The charms teacher." Professor Flitwick continued. The golden light exploded into a swarm of tiny birds which flew around the students heads. Alex breathed in amazements as did the rest of the students. The tiny professor smiled, satisfied and a second later, the birds flew back into his wand and it was over. "Now on with the lesson, get out your wands and writing equipment so that we can start." Alex quickly got out her wand and parchment and after only a few minutes the whole class was ready, sitting eagerly, eyes glued to Professor Flitwick.

"Today we are going to learn a simple spell. It's a levitation charm and it may take a while to master. All you have to do is make the movements, swish and flick…" He swished and flicked his wand to demonstrate. "…while saying _wingardium leviosa_." He did as he said, pointing at a book on his desk. To the classes surprise, the book hesitantly rose up and hovered the oak desk and, as the professor lowered his wand, fell gracefully back to the table, landing with a muffled thud.

The lesson passed quickly and by the end of it, much to everyone's surprise, Alex, Rose and Roxanne had mastered the charm. Alex had always been a fast learner but she had never guessed that she would be any good at magic. She was very happy that she had mastered the spell in such a short space of time – an hour to be exact. The three girls spent their fifteen minute break exploring and getting lost. When the fifteen minutes were up, Alex walked arm in arm with her two friends to their next class: Herbology.

Herbology also passed quickly and Alex found it quite interesting. They were learning about a plant called _Belladonna_ or _Deadly Nightshade_, one of most toxic plants found in the western hemisphere. The teacher was a tall middle aged man with mousey brown hair and stubble. Professor Longbottom. He was Rose's dad's friend and was very jolly.

Their next class was defence against the dark arts. The professor for that class was olive skinned and had tightly curled hair that he had plated in neat cornrows. He introduced himself as Professor Thomas. Defence Against the dark arts was easily the most interesting lesson so far, although Alex had thoroughly enjoyed all of her lessons so far. Professor Thomas put them in pairs and had them practicing a spell called _'expelliarmus'. _It was a disarming charm that Professor Thomas said had been very useful in the Battle of Hogwarts. Alex, who was paired with Roxanne, mastered the spell quickly and sent Roxanne and her wand flying. Roxanne landed with a thud on the opposite side of the room and the whole class fell silent, their eyes turning to Alex who dropped her wand and was standing, wand forgotten on the floor, staring wide eyed at Roxanne. "OMG, Roxanne! Are you alright?" she gasped and ran over to her friend who, shocked, blinked a few times before exploding into laughter. Alex, relieved, helped her up.

"What on earth?" Roxanne asked still laughing. "I just went flying! Wow, you're good Alex." She said through her laughter.

"I'm so sorry!" Alex apologized but Roxanne just brushed it off, still laughing.

"Well done Alex, looks like you're the first to accomplish the spell. I wonder though, can you do it a second time?" Professor Thomas said as he walked over to the commotion.

"I don't know, I'm not sure how I did it." Alex said feeling nervous as the class watched her expectantly.

Care to try?" The professor asked.

"As long as I'm not the one flying this time." Roxanne said, smiling.

"You can try and beat me then." Professor Thomas said taking out his wand. Alex bit her lip and took a deep breath. It looked like she didn't have a choice. The class shuffled back to give them some room and Alex picked up her wand again. "Okay give me your best shot, if you beat me I'll give you 35 house points." The Ravenclaw members whooped encouragingly and Alex nodded and turned to the Professor, her wand raised.

"_EXPELLIARMUS_!" Alex yelled and a bright light shot out of her wand and to everyone's surprise (including Professor Thomas's – though he didn't show it), Professor Thomas flew backwards and landed on the floor a few meters away. Alex looked around, bewildered but triumphant. Both the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students cheered and Roxanne and Rose ran over to Alex and hugged her. Professor Thomas got up smiled.

"Looks like you beat me. Well done." He chuckled and pocketed his wand. "Well, that's all we have time for today, class is dismissed." The class collected their bags and hurried out of the classroom and Professor Thomas sat down on his desk, head in his hands. There was something troubling him. He got up and rushed for the heads office.

He entered to see Professor McGonagall sitting at her desk. She looked up and beckoned him to sit in one of the chairs by her desk. "How can I help you Dean?" She asked the professor.

"It's about one of the new students, Miss Alexandra Adams. I've just had her for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was teaching the _expelliarmus _spell…" Professor McGonagall interrupted him.

"The _expelliarmus _spell? That's much too hard for first year, what were you thinking, they're not supposed to learn that until their second year. What were you thinking?"

"I know, I wasn't thinking straight, but, that's why I'm here. Adams mastered the spell on her first try! She sent her friend flying across the room!"

"Well then she's just a very bright girl." Professor McGonagall stated.

"But then I tested her, to see if it was just beginners luck. She went against me and I put up a small barrier around me. She shouldn't have been able to get through it, but she still disarmed me and sent me flying, not as far as her friend, but still pretty far. The barrier weakened the spell but it didn't stop it."

"Oh my, this is a shock. No student should be able to do that type of magic. It's even unlikely that a seventh year would be able to get through a teachers barrier. Maybe she knew magic before she came. Susan!" Professor McGonagall called for her the deputy head, who came up to her almost immediately.

"Yes?" She asked.

"What information have you got on Miss Alexandra Adams?" McGonagall asked.

"Alexandra Adams." Susan muttered as she flick her wand. A small note pad appeared and Susan read the information on it. "Alexandra Adams, more commonly known as Alex. Aged 11, is a muggle. Parents and brother were killed by Lord Phoenix. Lives with her aunt and cousins in Welwyn Garden City."

"So she's a Muggle." McGonagall mused. "Well, this is very troubling news indeed. Thomas, I expect you to keep an eye on her. I think there's something odd going on." Thomas nodded and sighed heavily. Both he and McGonagall were thinking the same thing. Were the dark times starting all over again?

_**A.N: So how was it? Did you like it? I hope you did. Please review and tell me what you think. So this is only half of her first day at hogwarts. I was going to make it her full day, but i had an idea i could put in the last bit of the day. So i know whats going to happen in the next chapter, so it shouldnt take me too long to write it. It will take me even less time though if you review. Your reviews make my day. Some people might think I'm favouring Alex a bit too much, but trust me, I'm not. If you knew what was in store for poor Alex, you would think she would deserve her moments of glory. Its usualy like that, the main character is always favoured in some way but bad things always happen to them, it wouldnt be a story if there wasnt a problem. At least they are more or less guaranteed to stay alive for the story. So read and review to find out what happens to Alex. I'll upload soon. Until then, cya. Smileytiger :P xxx **_

_**ps: once agaon, R&R people. xxx**_


	8. Chapter 7 Hagrid's apprentice

_**A.N: Hi guys. Here's the next chapter. I know its been two weeks but I've been busy and kind of forgot. Thanks to tessbradiwalsh for reviewing and reminding me to finish this chapter. I can't really tell you why she can do the magic and I guess it is both good and bad. **_

_****__****__********__****__Disclaimer: I dont own the Harry Potter series , characters or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters and the plot. _

Chapter 7 – Hagrid's apprentice

Alex shivered as a cold gust of air flew through the dungeons. She hesitantly walked through the door of the classroom, Rose and Roxanne following closely behind. She saw that most of the class was already sitting down at the circular tables. Her eyes scanned the room, searching the room for a familiar face. They finally rested on a familiar boy with bleach blond hair and silver/grey eyes. Scorpius Malfoy. Alex remembered that the Ravenclaw's shared potion classes with the Slytherin's. He hadn't seen her yet. He was smirking at something a Slytherin sitting next to him had said. She smiled and motioned for Rose and Roxanne to follow as she made her way over to the table. "What are you doing?" Rose hissed into Alex ear as they neared the table and Rose and Roxanne figured out where Alex was planning to go.

"Going to sit down." Alex answered.

"With _them_?" Rose whispered.

"Yeah, why not." Alex asked innocently. She wasn't aware of the rivalry between the other houses and Slytherin.

"There Slytherin's. All of them are." Rose protested. It was true, Alex realised, there wasn't a single Ravenclaw sitting with the Slytherins. She also noticed that they were three empty seats on the table. "Why don't we go sit with the Ravenclaw's?"

"Because there seats here." Alex said, still making her way over to the table. When she reached the table, four pairs of eyes on the table looked up at them hastily; the last pair of eyes looked surprised. They belonged to Scorpius. Alex plopped herself down on a chair next to Scorpius and Roxanne sat down next to her. Roxanne was from a Muggle family too and didn't really have anything against the Slytherins. Rose, however, stayed standing up for a few minutes before reluctantly sitting down on the other side of Roxanne.

"Hey Malfoy." Alex greeted him, smiling. He smirked.

"Hey Adams, what you doing here?" He asked.

"Waiting for the lesson to start." Alex also smirked.

"No, I mean sitting here." Scorpius chuckled. His friends looked at him oddly.

"Why? Am I not allowed to sit here?"

"Well yes I guess." He answered.

"Hey Malfoy, do you know her?" A Slytherin with spiky brown hair asked.

"Yeah, we met on the train." Scorpius answered. "She shot water at Potter."

"Nice one. What's your name? I'm Xzanthy." The brown haired Slytherin asked. Alex smiled, proud of soaking James Potter.

"Alex."

"Cool name, I'm Zorro." A black haired Slytherin said. "That's Wolfang, but we call him Wolfy." He pointed to a Slytherin with copper hair who waved. "And that's Arion." Arion was a red haired boy with blue eyes.

"So, Xzanthy, Zorro, Wolfy and Arion." Alex repeated slowly and Roxanne laughed. Alex, remembering her two friends decided to introduce them. "Oh, this is Rose and Roxanne." Roxanne said hi and Rose just rolled her eyes.

Just then a fat, bald, old man entered the room chuckling. He had gooseberry coloured eyes, red cheeks and an enormous, silver, walrus-like moustache. "Alright then class, I'm Professor Slughorn, the potions master. I am going to quote something that my good friend Professor Snape said before he was killed because I think it is appropriate. _'I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.'_" Then he laughed good-naturedly. "Well then, let's get on with the lesson." And with no further ado, the lesson started.

The potions lesson passed quickly and Alex found it quite tricky, despite her brewing the _boil curing _potion Professor Slughorn set them to make perfectly. She had to admit; she didn't really like potions very much and was glad when the class let out.

"You're pretty good at potions." Wolfy told Alex, grinning as they left the class. Alex was about to thank him when Rose cut in. She had finally warmed up to the group of Slytherins.

"She's good at everything so far."

"Rose is right. Alex sent me flying this morning in Defense against the dark arts." Roxanne said, laughing. The others laughed too.

"I didn't mean to Rox." Alex said, though she was laughing with the others.

"I know. So, what do we have next?" Roxanne asked.

"Umm, we have care of magical creatures with the Gryffindor's. What do you have Scorpius?" Alex answered after pulling her timetable out of her pocket.

"We have transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs. I guess we'll see you later."

"Sure, see you." Alex waved as they went their separate ways. Care of magical creatures took place on the edge of the forbidden forest near a small hut. They three girls the gathering of students and looked at the man who was going to be their teacher. He was tall. Very tall. With a beard and unruly hair. Hagrid.

"Is every'un 'ere?" He asked and the class nodded. "Well then, let's get started. I'm Hagrid, keeper of the keys and your care of magical creatures instructor. You don' need to bother with callin' me professor an' that lot. Jus' call me Hagrid." Hagrid instructed the class who nodded. "So, today, we'll be lookin' at some creatures. Well, a type o' bird actually. The Phoenix. Well, come out Jaden. An' bring the bird with ya." A figure emerged from the trees of the forbidden forest and the class gasped, surprised.

"Hey Hagrid." The figures soft voice called. As the figure neared, Alex made it out to be a boy, about a year older than her. On his shoulder perched the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. A large swan-sized scarlet bird with red and gold plumage, along with a golden beak, talons and a tail as long as a peacock's. The phoenixes black eyes swept along the class, finally resting on Alex. It hooted softly before raising its wings and, despite the calls of the boy, took off and flew towards Alex. Alex, startled, stepped back, away from the bird. The phoenix, however, continued to fly closer and finally, to everyone's surprise, perched on Alex's shoulder. Its soft feathers brushed Alex cheek and Alex flinched. They were hot, like a fire, only it didn't hurt her. It felt nice and warm and left Alex's cheek tingling. Alex reached up and hesitantly touched the birds head. It rubbed its head on her hand, cooing softly.

"Arrow! Come here." The boy called running towards the bird and Alex. The class parted to let him pass and he quickly reached Alex. "I'm sorry; he's not usually like this."

"It's okay. I don't mind." Alex replied, smiling. She thought that the bird was sweet. She laughed softly as the bird cooed. The boy smiled widely before gently removing the bird from her shoulder to his own. Arrow nipped his ear, annoyed, but stayed put. The boy rubbed his ear as he walked back to Hagrid's side.

The class started again after that small incident and Alex found it quite interesting. She found out that phoenix's were immortal. When they got to the end of their lifespan, they turned into ashes and were born again from the ashes.

The lesson passed quickly and Alex was both relieved and disappointed that they had no more lessons until tomorrow. She had learned so much and had enjoyed the lessons thoroughly but she was also tiered and felt like her brain couldn't take in much more.

The boy took Arrow the phoenix away as the class dispersed and headed back to the school. Alex, Roxanne and Rose stayed behind after the lesson. Rose had wanted to speak to Hagrid and Alex and Roxanne had agreed to wait for her. They were standing to the side, quietly talking about their day so far when they heard a voice behind them. "Hey, what are you doing?" They turned round to find the boy grinning at them. He had returned from taking the phoenix.

"Waiting for Rose." Alex beckoned towards Rose who was still talking to Hagrid.

"Oh. What are you both called?" The boy asked casually sitting down on the soft green grass.

"I'm Alex." Alex replied.

"And I'm Roxanne." Roxanne continued. The two girls hesitated for a minute before flopping down onto the grass and sitting next to the boy.

"Cool names. Al and Roxy. I'm Jaden by the way." The boy introduced himself while giving them new nick-names. "Your both witches?" it was more of a statement than a fact but Alex and Roxanne still nodded. "When did you find out? Or are your parents' also magic folk?"

"No, I found out a couple of months ago. Turns out I inherited it from my gran but my parents didn't tell me until a few months before I got my letter." Roxanne said. Then it was Alex's turn.

"Well I found out at the beginning of the holidays when Cho came to my house to give me the letter. I was pretty shocked, so was my Aunt and cousins. I don't think my parents were magic but I'm not sure; they died when I was six years old. So did my brother. So I've been living with my Aunt." Alex explained and Roxanne and Jaden's eyes widened slightly at the mention of her parents death.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jaden apologized but Alex shook it off.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. It was five years ago. So, are you a wizard?" She asked changing the subject.

"No, I'm a Muggle." He said smiling.

"Really? So why are you here?" Roxanne asked, shocked.

"Well, it's kind of a long story." Jaden said a bit reluctantly.

"Well it doesn't look like Rose 'll be finished anytime soon." Alex pointed out. It looked like Rose and Hagrid had a lot to catch up on. He was her father's friend after all.

"Well, okay then. My mum was a witch but the genes didn't pass on, so I'm a Muggle, like my dad. Hagrid was friends with my mum because she used to work in Hogwarts. My parents died a few years ago; well actually they were murdered by this guy who calls himself Phoenix. He was about to kill me when Potter showed up. He's an Auror and was trying to catch Phoenix. He managed to divert Phoenix's attention from me but when Phoenix saw Potter, he ran. He didn't get caught either. Apparently he's and escape artist. No one's ever caught him. Wait, no, there was this one time, but he escaped almost immediately. No one knows how. Anyway, Hagrid took me on as his apprentice because he was friends with my mum and I already knew about magic. And, well, that's about it." Jaden concluded.

The two girls were shocked. Jaden seemed like a very happy and carefree person but that obviously wasn't the case. Just then Rose came up to them, having finished talking with Hagrid. "Alright lets go, it's time for dinner." The two girls and one boy stood up.

"Well, I'll see you around Al, Roxy." Jaden grinned.

"Sure Jay." Alex called and Jaden smirked.

"Oy, Smith, c'm 'ere!" Hagrid's gruff voice sounded.

"Well, that's my cue to leave, see ya." Jaden winked before turning around and running towards Hagrid.

The made their way back to the castle and arrived just in time for dinner.

They ate with everyone else. The food was not as grand as the banquet the night before but was still better than Alex had ever imagined. After they had eaten, Alex, feeling sleepy, retired to the dorm straight away and fell asleep almost immediately, glad that they didn't have any homework. Rose and Roxanne followed her lead and were also asleep fairly quickly.

In the middle of the night, Alex woke up with the feeling that she was being watched. She silently got up and padded to the window, careful to not wake anyone up. She peered out into the darkness but spotted no one. She was turning back to return to her bed when she saw the air shift and the darkness grow thicker out of the corner of her eye. She whipped back round to face the window but the sky was the same black sheet as before. Sighing, she got back into bed and closed her eyes.

**_AN: So what did you think? Good, bad? Did you like it? I hope you did. Review and tell me what you think. Oh, also I decided to make Hugo and Rose twins. So Hugo is 11 and is Albus's best friend. If you have any questions, just ask and I'll answer them if I can. Also I dont mind constructive critisism. It helps me with my writing. Please review, i love reading your reviews, it makes me smile. :-) So R&R people and I'll write the next chapter and get it up ASAP. Smileytiger xxx :P_**


	9. Chapter 8 Flying lessons

_**A.N:**_**_Hey guys. Okay, I'm sorry I took so long to upload but this chapter is extra long - almost twice as long as usual - so I hope it was worth the wait. Here are my excuses:_**

**_I had writers block and I was very busy – I have been writing 5, yes 5, original stories. I also just got two new Sims 3 games. Last weekend I was supposed to be going to the library to get some books but ended up getting my dad to buy me two Sims games. I spent the whole weekend trying them out (I know, how sad) and completely forgot about this and by the time I remembered I had lost two full days of writing time – I do most of my writing on the weekends. So I've actually written most of this chapter this week after school which has been hard because I had my piano lesson on Tuesday and I went to Camelot theme park with my school on Wednesday and was very tiered both yesterday and today (I fell asleep in one of my classes oops) You want another reason? I'm learning Japanese and that is very time consuming. But somehow I have finished this chapter. _**

**_Shout out to:_**

_Tessbradiwalsh,** thanks for reviewing as always and thanks for the ideas, they really helped. xxx**_

_BananaLollypop, **Thanks for reading this and I'm glad you like it. I know how hard it is to find a good fan fiction to read 'cause I'm quite fussy too. I'm really glad that you like it. xxx**_

_lizziependragon66, **thanks for reading my story and liking it, it made me really happy. Send a review next time? It always makes my day. xxx**_

**_I hope you enjoy it because I worked my ass of trying to get this up today (I was even writing it in class) lol. Enjoy! :P xxx_**

**_Dissclaimer:___****__****__********__****_ I dont own the Harry Potter series , characters or the magical terms ect. Wish i did though. I only own my own characters and the plot._**

Chapter 8 – Flying lessons

A few weeks had passed since Alex had started Hogwarts and September was nearing its end. Alex had adjusted to her new life quite easily and thoroughly enjoyed life at Hogwarts. She spent the weekdays learning new spells and charms and the weekends hanging out with her every growing group of friends, the closest being Roxanne, Rose, Albus, Hugo, Jaden and Scorpius; although she didn't see Scorpius much as he was a Slytherin and did not particularly like her Gryffindor friends. Alex had been extremely busy since she had started Hogwarts, her days were always filled with new things to learn, new things to do and lots and lots of homework.

One day Alex was walking up to Ravenclaw tower common room alone after a long hour of homework in the library. There was hardly anyone about as dinner had passed and most people were chilling in the common rooms. A cold gust of wind blew in through one of the open windows surrounding the long, winding tower stairs and blew through Alex's hair, pulling it out of the loose, messy bun she had quickly tied it into in the library whilst studying for the simple reason that it was getting in her eyes. She shivered and tightened her hold on the black robe, pulling it around her tighter. Moon walked by her side, keeping pace with her. The only sound they could here was the whistling of the wind as it races around the tower.

Alex pulled a hand through her hair, neatening it slightly as she stopped outside the Ravenclaw common room door. She scanned her hand quickly before pushing the door open and stepping in, eager to escape from the windy corridor. She was surprised at the chattering crowd of first years that met her as she had been expecting everyone to be sitting on the sofas reading or talking softly as usual. However, they were gathering round the noticeboard that hung on the far wall of the common room and the students from other years seemed to have disappeared to get a bit of quiet. Moon jumped on one of the empty armchairs and lay down, licking her ink black fur with her sandpaper tongue and settling down for a nap. Alex shut the door behind her and made her way to the crowd, wondering what the fuss was about.

Roxanne turned round when she felt the presence of an extra person behind her. "Hey Roxy, what's the fuss about?" The presence voiced.

"Al, you're done with the homework already! That was pretty quick, considering how much we got. It's going to take me _ages_ to do mine!" She moaned. "It's the notice, you have to read it. I'm so excited!" Roxanne jumped, squealing a bit like the over excited girl she was. "Go on, quick!" Roxanne gave Alex a small shove towards the body of people.

"Okay, okay. I'm going." Alex said seeming reluctant although she wasn't in the least, just curious. She walked pushed her way through the crowd and stopped in front of a huge poster that was pinned on the notice board. She read it quickly.

_ATTENTION FIRST YEARS!_

_Flying lessons will be taking place on Wednesday period 3 in place of your free lesson. The lesson will go through lunch but you will be excused from your period 4 and 5 lessons._

_It will be held on the quidditch pitch and will be shared along the following:_

_Gryffindor and Slytherin_

_Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff_

_It will be held every Wednesday for 3 weeks to cover the basics of flying. _

_Professor Woods._

Alex's eyes widened with shock. Flying lessons! What would they be flying? The only things she could think of were airplanes and helicopters, but she doubted they would be learning to fly them. Maybe they would learn a spell that made them grow wings and fly. Again it seemed unlikely, even for a school of magic. Then it came to her. She thought back to her first conversation with Cho.

"_Do you really ride broomsticks?"_

"_Yes. I was in Ravenclaw's quidditch team!" Cho smiled remembering her match against Harry Potter._

"_What's quidditch?" Alex asked, perplexed._

"_It's like humans football, everyone follows it, but it's played in the air on brooms and there are several balls. They'll teach you the rules in flying lessons." Alex pictured people whizzing around a football pitch on brooms catching several footballs. She herself had never really been a fan of football so she wasn't as interested if quidditch was like football._

When Cho had said they rode on broomsticks, Alex had thought she was making it up. Maybe these were the flying lessons she was talking about. Maybe they _would_ be flying on broomsticks like the witches from the storybooks did. How stereotypical. They could have been more imaginative. She chuckled as she imagined green faced warty witches from movies riding through Hogwarts on the olden styled wooden brooms. Still, it would be interesting to learn to fly on one. Alex remembered how she had wished she could fly when she was a little girl. Her wish was finally being answered, and she appreciated it, even if it was a few years too late, because, to be completely honest with herself, she still wanted to fly and she was excited. Although she had imagined herself flying with fairy wings, not on a wooden broom. Oh the irony. She just hoped she wouldn't get splinters.

She walked away from the crowed and joined Roxanne from her new place, sitting down next to Rose who was lying on the floor with her homework spread out in front of her. Roxanne looked up as Alex sat down on the floor next to the two girls and smiled. "So did you read it? Isn't it exciting, I can't wait! I've heard about broomstick riding before, it sounds so fun!" Alex held back a chuckle. She had been right, they were flying on broomsticks.

"I know! I did read it. I can't wait, only two days till Wednesday!" Alex said, easily slipping into her friends over excited state.

"It takes so little to work you two up." Rose said looking up from her homework, shaking her head and trying to sound annoyed but failing to stop the amused smile that crossed her face.

"You're excited too, admit it!" Roxanne smiled and laughing.

"I'm not really; both my parents weren't very good at quidditch so I'll probably suck." Rose frowned slightly.

"You'll be fine." Alex reassured her.

"Yeah don't worry, when you fall of your broom it will be just like a rollercoaster and I'm sure you can learn a spell that keeps you from cracking your skull on the ground." Roxanne was grinning cheekily and Rose pouted.

"Immature." Was the only word that escaped Roses lips as she turned back to her homework.

"You love me really!" Roxanne laughed, throwing her arms round Rose. Rose wacked her on the head softly with a note pad and Roxanne backed away feigning surprise and mock hurt.

Alex watched the scene before her with an amused smirk. She wanted to join in and have fun with the others, but she just couldn't forget the reason she had decided to go to Hogwarts. Shouldn't she be working extremely hard to be the best she could possibly be so that she could find and exterminate Phoenix? Not laughing and playing and messing around. She looked back to the seen to see Roxanne snatch Rose's homework away and run away with it. Rose got up and chased Roxanne around the common room, trying to retrieve the paper. Would it hurt to just have a little bit of fun? She was only 11, she still had the rest of her life to find Phoenix; she didn't have to rush. Maybe it would be okay to enjoy her time at Hogwarts. She could still work as hard as she could but she could also have a bit of fun. It wouldn't hurt would it? She decided that no, it wouldn't hurt. Alex smiled fully, having just had a large weight removed from her shoulders and laughed as she jumped up and rushed over to the two girls, grabbing the sheet of homework from Rose, who had just retrieved it, and jumping on to a sofa and holding it high in the air as Rose and Roxanne tried jumping to reach it.

It was Wednesday today. Professor Woods would be taking the first years for flying lessons today. He wasn't really looking forward to it, which was unusual for him – he loved everything to do with broomsticks, especially quidditch – but he couldn't shake the ominous feeling that something bad was going to happen today. It was probably just his imagination though. He still had to go for two reasons. The first was the obvious, it was his job. He couldn't skip even if he wanted to. The second was less obvious, Aura-lee Chang, the Ravenclaw's quidditch captain, had come to him earlier in the week to ask if he could scout for any possible first years that could join the team – there were two spaces that needed filling and Ravenclaw were facing being disqualified from the Quidditch season if they didn't find replacements. They didn't usually allow first years to take part but Wood said that if they were any outstanding flyers, he would let them join. He knew what it felt like to be a few players short of a team. He was lucky Harry Potter was there. Very lucky as Potter was one of the best players he had seen.

A few minutes before time, Wood headed down to the quidditch pitch. He was just entering the store room to collect the schools battered broomsticks when a thought crossed his mind. Broomsticks! He cursed under his breath. He had forgotten his broomstick. He was thinking of quickly going to get it but he heard the bell ring, signaling end of period 2 and the start of period 3. He didn't have time. He still had to get to the quidditch pitch, and carrying the heavy box of brooms too. It took him a few minutes before he got there and, placing the box down, he turned to the chattering class. The ominous feeling was still there and, praying it was nothing, he turned to the class. Flying lessons were about to start.

Alex walked out of the charms classroom feeling upbeat and victorious. She had just succeeded in mastering _'alohomora'_, a charm that allowed you to open or unlock locked or sealed doors. It was Wednesday and there was only one lesson left until lunch. "What've we got next?" Rose asked as the three girls stopped in the corridor.

"Flying lessons!" Roxanne yelled, pumping the air with her fist.

"Finally, it feels like I've been waiting for ages!" Alex's day was getting better and better. Rose's however, was not. Her earlier smile turned into a frown which Alex caught as they started walking towards the quidditch pitch, Roxanne skipping ahead. "Don't worry Rose, you'll be fine and it doesn't matter if you mess up, as long as you have fun. I'll probably be pants at it too." Alex told her friend who gave off a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Rose said and Alex grinned.

"Of course I am!" Alex laughed along with Rose as they both sped their paces to match Roxanne's.

When they reached the quidditch pitch – which was on the castle grounds – there was already a crowd chattering of Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's. The floor of the quidditch pitch was surprisingly soft grass and it was surrounded by tall stands where spectators would probably sit. Alex couldn't see any goal nets but they were three hoops on either side of the pitch. Maybe those were the goals.

"Quieten down class." A voice commanded above the noise in a Scottish accent as the three girls came to a stop. The crowd quietened and looked towards the person who had spoken. It was a tall man with sandy hair and brown eyes. "Good. Now, let's get started. I'm Professor Woods, your flying instructor. Some of you might have heard of me, I played reserve and then keeper for Puddlemere United for a while before coming back here to teach." There were a few gasps and shouts of recognition that came from the class but Alex wasn't sure of what he meant. It must be a type of wizard's football or 'quidditch' team, but she had never heard of a place called Puddlemere; most teams were named after towns and places. So he played keeper, as in goal keeper? The kids from wizarding families seemed to know what he was talking about but those from Muggle families were looking confused. "Well let's get started. Everyone line up and grab a broom, then stand in a two lines, Ravenclaw on this side, Hufflepuff over there," he pointed to two places opposite each other in the middle of the pitch before continuing "and put your broom on the ground on your wand hand side."

"What's your wand hand?" Alex asked Rose as the class set of to follow Professor Wood's instructions.

"Umm, I guess you would call it your writing hand." Rose answered.

"Like right handed and left handed?" Roxanne asked and Rose nodded. The girls picked up their brooms from the box they were neatly laid out in and headed to their appointed lines. Alex noticed that the broomsticks weren't just normal the stereotypical witches brooms, they were shaped slightly differently and there was a band of silver wrapped round the start of the tail. There were two silver poles bent in a foot bar shape coming out of either side of the silver band. In small print was _Comet 2 60 _engraved in the woodwork. Alex looked across at the classes brooms and saw everyone had the same.

"What type of brooms are these?" Alex asked as they walked, shocked and amazed.

"Comet 2 60's. They're not very fast and really out dated. They were around when my dad was in Hogwarts!" Rose said. "They only go from 0 to around 60 in 10 seconds."

"That's slow? It sounds pretty fast to me." Roxanne said and Alex nodded in agreement.

"Compared to the new ones, yes." Rose said. When the three girls reached the line, they put their brooms down and turned to face professor Woods who was in the middle of the two lines.

"Okay, we'll start with the basics. I want you to put your hand over the broom and say 'up.' The broom should fly up and you need to catch it. Don't worry if it doesn't come straight away, it hardly ever does that; just keep trying until you get it. Watch me." He raised his hand above the broom at his feet and commanded, "Up." The broom shot up and he caught easily before putting it back down. "Okay, start." He said.

Alex, feeling a bit nervous, put her hand over her broom. "Up." she commanded loudly but it didn't draw attention as the pitch was now filled with a commotion of thirty odd shouted _up!'_s. The broom at her feet twitched then slowly and calmly flew up to her palm. She closed her fingers round it, smiling and looking at her two friends who were staring at her.

"How did you do that on your first try, I've already tried twice and I haven't got anywhere!" Roxanne asked, smiling.

The class tried at it for around fifteen minutes until everyone had gotten their brooms of the floor. Roxanne had gotten it on her 4th go and Rose on her 6th, which was very good considering most of the Ravenclaw's were getting their broom on their 10th and the Hufflepuff's mostly in their 20's. "Well done class, let's move on. Now, I want you to mount you're brooms and try to hover above the ground for a few seconds. Don't go any higher than ten inches from the ground. Okay, start." The class did as he said and Alex, Rose and Roxanne found it fairly easy. They were just about to do it again for the 3rd time when a high pitched scream alerted them that something was wrong.

The whole class silenced immediately, stopping what they were doing and looked up at the sky where the scream had come from. Penny Anderson, a timid Hufflepuff girl was clinging on her broomstick which was zooming higher and higher into the sky, reaching the top of the Ravenclaw tower and heading for the even higher astronomy tower. She had lost control of her broom. Professor Wood turned around to reach for his broom before he remembered he had left it in the school. He started to run towards the students, intending to grab one of their brooms when he heard the voice.

"Alex, what are you doing?" He stopped in his tracks.

Alex, not realising what she was doing, had mounted her broom. She was still staring up at Penny. She felt her feet pushing off the ground underneath her, and without thinking, she soared into the sky. "What are you doing, come down!" She heard the Scottish accent of Prof. Woods yell up at her, but Alex ignored him. Her hair blew out behind her and she smiled widely as the cold air ruffled her hair and hit her face. She tilted the broom up and was surprised when the broom obediently soared higher. A frightened scream reminded her that Penny was still in trouble. Alex pulled the broom up and she soared higher and higher into the sky. As she neared Penny, she saw that Penny's broom had stopped rising up and was now jutting backward and forward and side to side. It was a wonder Penny managed to hold on. Alex tried to reach Penny but she was moving too much. Alex tried again, flying close as she could, but Penny's broom moved again, causing Alex to do a loop in the air. She recovered from the loop quickly and spiralled towards Penny once again.

"Penny, grab my hand." Alex yelled as she came up next to the broom.

"I…I…I can't!" Penny stuttered through frightened tears.

"Come on, I'll help you." Alex tried to persuade her but Penny only clung to the broom.

Down on the ground, the class was watching Alex's struggles as she tried to persuade Penny to let go. Professor Woods was sending a student to the castle to get the nurse whilst trying to calm the class. Roxanne watched as her friend almost fell of her broom when Penny's broom zoomed towards her. She grabbed her own broom and mounted it, pushing of the ground before Professor Woods could do anything about it. She zoomed towards to two girls to try and help.

"Need a hand?" A voice made Alex turn round in surprise; Roxanne was behind her, beaming.

"That would be nice Roxy. Can you try and steady the broom? I'll try and get Penny onto mine."

"Sure thing." Roxanne flew to the other side of the broom.

"Penny!" Alex called, drawing the girl's attention. Roxanne, seeing Penny momentarily stop, zoomed in and grabbed the broom, trying to stead it before it started moving again. Due to the stop, Penny lurched forward and was thrown off her broom. The group was so high in the sky that if anyone of them fell, it would be certain death.

Without thinking, Alex pointed her broom down, diving down, trying to catch up with the falling girl, racing against gravity. She pushed the broom faster and faster and successfully passed Penny, but she kept on going.

To anyone watching from the ground, it looked as if Alex had lost control of her broom and was now pummelling from the sky. But Alex knew exactly what she was doing. Just before she touched the ground, she pulled the broom up, out of the dive and soared into the air. She raced up to where Penny was falling and quickly let go of her broom with one hand and grabbed her arm, pulling her up and onto the back of her broom. She put her arm back onto her broom as Poppy clung on to her. Alex let the broom level out.

"You okay?" She asked Penny who nodded slightly as Alex slowly flew down and landed gently on to the ground. She was greeted by a swarm of people who looked at her in awe. The Hufflepuffs ran to Penny who was still crying and put their arms round her, leading her to the nurse who was hovering worriedly at the edge of the quidditch pitch. Roxanne landed a few seconds after Alex holding Penny's broom.

"Is she okay?" She asked Alex. Alex dropped the broom she was holding and sat on the sandy ground.

"Yeah, I think so." Alex nodded sighing deeply. She felt tiered but exhilarated. She didn't think flying would be that fun. She wanted to do it again. It was like being on a rollercoaster, only you were more in control, not being tossed around. If flying was that enjoyable, maybe quidditch wouldn't be that bad, definitely less boring than football. She smiled as Roxanne sat down next to her, also putting down the two brooms, and letting the sand run through her fingers.

Her smile froze when she saw a shadow approaching them. Alex looked up to see professor Woods towering over them. His face a mix of shock, worry, anger and…awe? No it couldn't be. Alex dismissed the thought quickly. Sure the students were amazed but Woods had played for a quidditch team. He was a pro. "What were you thinking?" Woods fumed at the two girls. "Do you realise how dangerous that was! Have either of you ever rode a broom before?" The two girls shook their heads and Woods sucked in an angry gasp of air. "You must be a heck of a good flyer then. But that's even more dangerous. I had it under control!" He paused in the middle of his rant to take a calming breath. "You two follow me." Then he turned to the class. "Class dismissed!"

Alex scrambled up, shortly followed by Roxanne. Rose looked after them worriedly as they followed Professor Woods out of the quidditch pitch and into the castle. They were going to be in big trouble. Big, big trouble. "What if we get expelled?" Roxanne whispered to Alex. As soon as she said those words, Alex's eyes widened. What if they _did_ get expelled? She wouldn't be able to find Phoenix. She needed to stay here. She had been so irresponsible; she should have left it to the teacher. Everything would be over.

The two girls followed the professor through the corridors and into a room which was labelled _Professor Woods Office. _"Wait here." He said before leaving the room abruptly. The two girls nervously sat on the two black chairs that faced the main oak desk. They didn't talk while they waited and sat instead in silence letting their imaginations run wild with all the horrible things that could happen to them. Professor Woods returned a few minutes later with a girl following him. She looked to be about 15 or 16 years old. She had glossy black hair shaped into a choppy bob and dark brown Asian eyes. Professor Woods shut the door behind them. "Here they are." He gestured to the two girls and the older girl smiled.

"Hi, I'm Aura-lee Chang, the Ravenclaw quidditch captain. Professor Woods told me you're both really good flyers. Would you like to join the Ravenclaw quidditch team?" She asked. Alex and Roxanne blinked a few times before taking it in.

"Us?" Roxanne asked, confused. Aura-lee nodded.

"Usually first years aren't allowed, but Ravenclaw is two down on team members and we really need two more players otherwise we can't compete in the quidditch season."

"Aren't we in trouble?" Alex asked, hoping that the answer was no. To her utmost relief, Woods smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, I would have done the same thing." He shook it off. "Plus, I should have had my broomstick with me." Alex let out a lungful of air she didn't realise she had been holding in in relief.

"So, will you join?" Aura-lee asked. The two girls looked at each other before looking back at Aura-lee.

"What do we have to do?" Alex asked.

"Well, you have to come to practice which is for about an hour three times a week and then play in the season." She answered smiling.

"What places are available?" Roxanne asked.

"Well, we need one more chaser and a seeker." She said. "Do you know the rules to quidditch?" the two girls shook their heads. "Well, I'll explain them if you come to the practice. You don't have to decide just yet. Come to the quidditch pitch tomorrow at 7:00pm. See if you like it before you make up your mind. Okay?" The two girls smiled and nodded before saying goodbye and leaving the office to meet up with Rose in the common room. Alex had mixed feelings about quidditch but it wouldn't hurt to try would it? Who knows, it could come in handy sometime. You never know...

_**A.N: **_**_So, how was it? I hope you liked it. Review and send me your thoughts. I'll try and update faster this time. I update around once every two weeks. Make sure to review, it makes my day every time someone reviews because I love writing – I want to be an author someday – and I love it when people like what I write. Remember, you can now review if you don't have an account, I would love to hear from every one of you. I'm going to go now so cya! Need to catch up on my sleep. *yawn* (I actually did yawn too, lol.) R&R! _**

**_Smileytiger xxx :P_**


	10. Chapter 9 Quidditch Practice

_**A.N: Hey guys! I am so so sorry for updating so late but I've had a lot of things I needed to do as well as a very bad case of writers block - it's still not completely gone so sorry if this chapter isn't up to my normal standards - which, I admit aren't very high. Anyway, in exchange for the long wait, I've got an extra-long chapter – the longest I've ever written with a total of exactly 5,789 words. So, enjoy. Ps. my friend ******__Leopardlover005_ gave me a few ideas for this chapter.

_**Thanks to these people for reviewing - it made my day.**_

_MoonyPie1_ **_: I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see. xxx_**

_The Yoshinator _**_: I'm glad you like it and yeah, I know. I'm sorting that out now. Xxx_**

_Ally0419_**_: I'm glad you like it. Thanks for reading. Xxx_**

_Hogwarts 7777_**_: Can't wait for you to all find out. I wish I could just tell you all now, but that would ruin the story… xxx_**

_Leopardlover005_**_: Lol, glad you like the story… even though you know what happens. Don't tell though ;-). xxx_**

**__****_Dissclaimer:___****__****__********__****_ I dont own the Harry Potter series , characters or the magical terms ect. Wish i did though. I only own my own characters and the plot._**

Chapter 9

The next morning, Alex awoke to the sound of a cats yawn. She opened her eyes warily and absentmindedly lifted up a hand to run through her untidy hair. There was no need to say that she was surprised when her fingers met the soft and warm body of Moon, who must have been sharing her pillow. _'Morning Alex.'_ the black cat yawned sleepily and Alex replied with a yawn whilst pulling herself up into a sitting position as she looked round the airy room whilst rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Hey Alex." A soft voice greeted her from the bed beside her. She looked across to see Rose, already dressed in her uniform, pouring over an old, thick and dusty book she had checked out of the library a few days before.

Alex wasn't sure what it was about but Rose seemed to be enjoying it because as soon as Alex had answered with a reply of "Morning." Rose's nose was buried back in the book.  
_'Oh so you greet her and not me.'_Moon grumbled. Alex, knowing that she wasn't serious didn't reply, instead settling for petting the soft fur on her head as she turned to look across at Roxanne's bed. As expected, Roxanne was still deeply asleep, cuddled up snugly in her duvet and snoring lightly.

Alex smirked before sighing and slipping her legs out of the warm duvet and onto the cool floor. She sat for only moment before hoisting herself up and plodding sleepily to her bathroom to get ready for the day ahead, leaving Moon curled up on her pillow. She was still half asleep so she decided to have a quick, cold shower before going on to brushing and styling her hair. She didn't do anything to complex with it, just a simple, loose side plate which hung over her left shoulder. Satisfied, she made her way back into the room to get dressed.  
Once she was ready, she packed her books for the day before making her bed. She quickly checked her watch and read the time 6:30 am. There was still around an hour before they would be going down to breakfast. She decided to use the time wisely and got out her Charms homework that was due in this afternoon. She then turned to Rose.  
"Hey, I'm going down to the common room to my homework, you coming?" She asked and Rose pulled her nose out of her book.  
"Sure." she said before getting up and joining Alex as she walked down the staircase that led down to the Ravenclaw common room.

Settling herself in an armchair, Alex started her homework leisurely while Rose went back to her book. The homework was quite easy and Alex found herself done sooner than she had realised. She checked her watch again. 7:00 am. There was still around half an hour left so, Alex, feeling generous, decided to make a quick copy of the homework for Roxanne who, Alex knew, had not started the homework and would not wake with enough time to do it. Rose was still engrossed in her book.

It was around 7:20 by the time Roxanne came down from the dorms and the three friends headed to the great hall for breakfast. Alex was topping a pancake with lemon and sugar when Roxanne turned to her, a look of panic in her eyes. "Oh no! We haven't done that Charms homework!" her expression was so funny that Alex decided to toy with her for a bit.  
"Oh, the charms homework? I did that this morning." Alex answered calmly.  
"When!" Roxanne exclaimed a look of worry and betrayal in her eyes - Roxanne and Alex usually did their together.  
"While 'you' were sleeping." Alex said stressing the 'you'.  
"Oh no!" Roxanne said worried and Alex, who couldn't help but laugh, decided to let her friend out of her misery.  
"Don't worry Roxy, I did you a copy." She said, chuckling whilst handing Roxanne a sheet of parchment. Roxanne's eyes scanned the paper before she breathed a deep sigh of relief.  
"Thanks Al." Roxanne said, enfolding Alex into a hug which she quickly returned before turning back to her pancake, rolling it up and taking a bite out of the end, smiling as the tangy sweetness filled her taste buds.

After breakfast, the three girls decided to start heading to their first class which was divination. Divination took place in a small, stuffy classroom up in one of the towers. Alex did not particularly like divination but her dislike of it was not as strong as Rose's. Rose hated the subject for no other reason other than that she thought everyone in the category were fakes and could not really see the future or tell fortunes. "I don't see the point." Rose grumbled as they walked down a corridor on the way to class.

"Stop grumbling, it's not that bad." Alex said, tiring of Rose's complaints.

"But it is! And it's not just me, my mum doesn't like it either, in fact, in her third year, she stormed out of the classroom and just dropped out of the class. My dad didn't like it either; he said it was just a load of rubbish." Rose said and Roxanne smirked.

"It must run in the family." She whispered to Alex and Rose glared.

"Oh shut it." Rose hissed as they climbed the long, winding staircase and reached the class room and entered. The room was dimly lit, as usual, the dusty curtains drawn and only candles lighting up the room. The classroom was decorated with many mystical objects – most of them where shiny and sparkly – the types that make you really want to touch them. However, they specifically told _not_ to touch them. So the students had to settle with eyeing them wearily as they walked to their seats.

The class sat in small groups of four and under at small round tables which were scattered round the room and draped with float cloths and fabrics reminded Alex of her aunt and her distaste of such things. 'They just harboured dust.' Is what she told Alex when she suggested getting a table cloth for the bare kitchen table. She had just seen a lovely bright one in a shop window on the way home from school and had decided to bring the topic up with her aunt, attempting to liven up the ever plain and pristine house.

Half the class was already inside and the three girls joined a petit girl with pale blonde hair and washed out blue eyes named Gianna Lockberry at one of the circular tables. Gianna was a Hufflepuff from a wizarding family who took a great interest in Divination, which was kind of ironic seeing as she sat with three girls who did not like the subject. She didn't mind though and greeted them cheerfully as they sat down.

Although the classroom was very strange, the teacher was the weirdest of all the things in the room. She went by the name of Professor Lovegood although most of the pupils called her Loony Lovegood behind her back. Alex thought it was a fitting nick name as Professor Lovegood was definitely quite odd.

Professor Lovegood had waist-length dirty blond hair which was kind of scraggly. She had big blue eyes and a permanently surprised look on her face. One of the oddest things about her though was that she wore radish earrings and her tendency to hold books upside down whilst reading.

The class seemed to drag on for hours before Loony Lovegood dismissed the class and the three girls left the classroom. They were walking down the stairs in silence when they heard quite footsteps pattering against the stairs behind them. They turned to see Gianna, hurrying down the stairs trying to catch up with them. "Hey Gianna." Alex greeted as the three slowed their pace to let the small girl catch up.

"Hi." Was all she said when she reached them.

"Umm, so are you all right?" Rose asked trying to make small talk but her attempt was in vain when Gianna only nodded.

"Is there anything you need?" Roxanne asked cutting to the chase.

"Oh, u... umm, n… not really." She stuttered nervously as they stepped off the last step of the stair case.

"Okay, well, we'll see you later." Roxanne said as the three girls turned, heading for the door that lead to the grounds.

"A… actually, I was wondering if I could b… be friends with you three?" She stuttered looking embarrassed.

"You don't really ask if you can be someone's friend." Roxanne pointed out and Gianna blushed.

"I… I know b… but…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say. Alex laughed and put an arm round the small girl's shoulders.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Sure you can be our friend."

The four girls made their way through the castle laughing and teasing Gianna who would blush red with embarrassment. Gianna would stutter out a comeback which only made the three girls laugh more. Gianna didn't mind though, she had done what she had to. The rest would be easy now.

After break ended, the girls parted ways and Rose, Roxanne and Alex headed to their next class which was History of Magic. History of magic was easily the most boring class. It was taught by a ghost named Professor Binns. When he was alive, he taught until a very old age, when he fell asleep in the staff room and died. He had woken up as a ghost and continued teaching as usual, although most of the pupils wished he had not. _"My subject is History of Magic. I deal with _facts_, not myths and legends._" Seemed to be his favorite thing to say and would say it every time someone interrupted him with a question that he deemed irrelevant to his subject. Alex entered the classroom with her friends and took her seat, dreading the time when the professor would enter the room and would start his long hour lecture. Sure enough, he floated in and the class groaned internally as he started talking. Although Alex was not in the least tiered, she started to feel her eyes droop as the ghost started his lecture. The next thing she was aware of was Rose elbowing her awake.

"Alex." She hissed when she saw Alex was awake. "Come on. Class has ended. Let's go." Alex yawned and stood up, picking up her bag and making her way out of the classroom and to their next lesson, defence against the dark arts with the Gryffindors. Alex easily found defence against the Dark Arts one of her favourite subjects and the class passed quickly, her enjoyment in the subject making the time seem faster than it really was and before she knew it, it was lunch.

The girls decided to eat lunch outside although it was autumn and cold. They pulled their cloaks tighter round them and pushed their hair – which was being whipped about by the wind – out of their faces as they searched the grounds for a nice place to sit. They finally settled under a huge oak tree, their backs to the truck and their knees drawn up. They got out their lunch and started eating in silence. After about ten minutes Rose broke the silence. "So, what did Professor Wood want yesterday after lessons?" She asked.

"Oh yeah! We forgot to tell you!" Roxanne exclaimed.

"He took us to meet the Ravenclaw quidditch team captain, Aura-lee Chang. They want us to try out for the team 'cause their short on players." Alex explained. Rose's face was a mask of shock.

"Really!?" she asked.

"Hey! Don't sound so surprised, we were good." Roxanne pretended to be insulted and Rose blushed slightly.

"I didn't mean it like that! It's just that they don't let first years play for the teams." Rose explained.

"I know, I was surprised too." Alex said smiling. "But we didn't give them an answer."

"Yeah, we said that we'd come to practice tonight to try it out and see if we want to." Roxanne said.

"That should be cool, but remember, we have astronomy at 8:30, so you can't be late." Rose reminded them.

"Yeah, I guess." Alex said. "We'll be there."

Lunch passed fairly quickly after that and then it was time for the next class, Care of Magical creatures. Care of Magical Creatures was dull to the surprise of Alex who usually enjoyed this subject. Hagrid had the class start a new project. Flobberworms. Flobberworms were fairly boring creatures measuring up to a total of ten-inches and lacking teeth. All in all, they were toothless brown worms which ate lettuce and cabbage. Hagrid gave them the homework of finding out ten facts about them.

Class finished at around 2:30. They didn't have any more classes until 8:30 now because it had to be dark for Astronomy to take place. So the class had a free lesson. Alex, Rose and Roxanne where heading out when Roxanne came to a stop. "Umm, guys. I'm gonna stay behind for a little while."

"Okay." Alex said smiling. She had a hunch why Roxanne was staying behind but wasn't going to say anything because it could be wrong. For all she knew it could just be to ask Hagrid a question.

"I'll meet you at quidditch practice then?" she asked and Alex's suspicions were confirmed.

"Sure, see ya." Alex waved as she and rose left Roxanne who turned around and walked back the way they'd come.

"What do you think she's doing?" Rose asked curiously and Alex's smile widened.

"I think she's going to help Jaden out. He said he had a pile of work to do earlier."

"Are you sure, I thought she was just going to ask Hagrid a question or something." Rose said, unsure.

"From 2:30 to 7:00?" Alex asked doubtfully. Rose realized her mistake.

"Yeah, I guess. But why?"

"I think she likes him." Alex said, smiling.

"Jaden? Really?" Rose seemed shocked but then paused and re thought about it. "Well I guess I can kind of see them together." The two girls smiled as they walked back to the castle.

"So, what should we do?" Rose asked and Alex shrugged.

"Dunno, I probably should get all of my homework done, 'cause I have to go by 7:00."

"Okay. I'll do mine too then." Rose said. "Shall we go to the common room, or the library?"

"Library, we need to get some books on _Flobberworms._" Alex said the word with disgust and Rose laughed.

"Okay then, let's go."

It was around four by the time they had finished the weeks' worth of homework they had been putting off. There was still three hours to go before quidditch practice so the girls decided to grab a bite to eat before heading down to the pitch. Rose decided to accompany Alex out of lack of other things to do.

They ate quickly before heading down to the pitch. However, it was only 5:30 and no one was there yet. "What should we do?" Rose asked looking around the empty pitch.

"I dunno, there's no one here." Alex stated the obvious. The girls entered the pitch and looked around.

"Should we go?" Rose asked.

"No wait! There're some brooms over there." Rose turned round and, true to her word, she spotted a box of brooms in the corner of the quidditch pitch.

"Yeah, there are." Rose said.

"Do you think they would mind if we had a go?" Alex asked.

"Doubt it, you are trying out for quidditch anyway. You can just say you were practicing." Rose said smiling.

"Yeah. I guess it wouldn't hurt. Come on." Alex laughed and pulled Rose towards the box of brooms. They grabbed one each and mounted. Alex lifted off into the air immediately and Rose followed soon after, slightly more hesitantly.

Alex let out a laugh of pure glee as the cold wind blew her tresses out behind her. She soared higher into the air, only stopping as she came level with one of the towers. She looked down to find Rose waiting underneath her. Alex zoomed back down, remembering that her friend was not really into flying. The two girls hovered in the air for a few minutes before Rose spoke.

"I have an idea. My brother and I used to play a game on broomsticks all the time. We could play if you like." Rose suggested.

"Okay, what is it." Alex asked curious.

"Okay, well can you see any balls anywhere?" She asked and Alex looked around. She didn't find any but then remembered something. She put her hand in the pocket of her robe and pulled out a small rubber bouncy ball.

"Will this do?" She asked and Rose nodded. She pulled out her wand and continued to talk.

"I'll enchant it to make it go where I tell it to and then you have to try and catch it while I control it from the ground." Rose explained.

"Well, okay then. We can give it a go." Alex agreed.

"Okay, wait for the signal before starting." Rose said then flew down to the ground before enchanting the ball and sending it up to Alex who was hovering in the air waiting. The ball rested in the air in front of Alex. Alex's had itched to reach out and grab it but she held still for Roses command.

"Okay, start!" Rose's voice came from the ground and Alex's arm flew out instinctively. However, the ball zoomed off, out of reach. Without thinking about it, Alex raced after it and continued to try and capture it, but, every time it avoided her just at the last minute. She continued to chase it, not letting her eyes leave the ball. However, once or twice the ball would go so fast that it flew out of her vision and she lost it. She would then spend a few minutes searching for it before she found it again then the cycle would continue. Rose sure wasn't going easy on her.

After around half an hour, Alex finally caught the ball and whooped with delight and pride of her achievement. She threw the ball back to Rose and the game went on. By the time it was 7:00pm, Alex had caught the ball a total of six times as she was improving greatly.

"Hey! Alex, it's seven. You should come down now!" Rose called from the ground as Alex zoomed around in the air.

"Okay!" Alex called down then she angled the broom down and landed neatly on the floor.

"Alright, so is everyone here?" Aura-lee asked her eyes scanning over her team, counting mentally the number of players. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… Her eyes finally rested on Roxanne and Alex who were standing in the corner of the group, slightly out of the way. 6, 7… 'Full house.' she thought smugly. "Okay team, today's going to be slightly different. I want you to go up and practice together while I stay down here and talk to the two first years." She instructed. "But before that, let's all introduce ourselves. Okay, I'm Aura-lee Chang, fifth year, team captain and the keeper – but you've already met me… next up is…" Before she could finish and before Alex had time to wonder what a _keeper_ was, a boy with fiery ginger hair and freckles splaying across his nose cut in.

"Jordan Parker, and…" He paused for a second and the boy beside him cut in.

"Sam Townson. The beaters, second years." This boy had an untidy mop of coppery auburn hair. He looked quite like the boy next to him… Jordan but in an odd way since their hair was different and Sam's face was free of freckles – although they both had brown eyes.

"Jacob Daniels." A boy with spiky blond hair and blue eyes said. "Chaser and fourth year."

"Jean Ashton, also a Chaser and a second year." A girl with ebony skin and dark hair that fell gracefully down her back in natural tight curls.

"And you two?" Aura-lee asked expectantly – even though she already knew them – after a short moment of silence.

"I'm Alex Adams, first year." She said looking at team members curiously. They had all said something after – Keeper, beater or chaser. And yesterday Aura-lee had mentioned a seeker. Alex wondered what they meant. They were probably team positions. She tried to guess what each position might do. _Chasers probably had to chase something around the pitch. Beaters could… beat something._ Alex thought uncertainly. _Maybe with a bat or a racket. Keepers could be the same as goal keepers and seekers could… look for something? _It didn't sound like much of a game, just a mix up of different activities and Alex could picture it in her head – Chasers chasing balls around the quidditch pitch while two beaters played a mini game of tennis or baseball as the Seeker whizzed around with a magnifying glass, looking in bushes and trees while the keeper floated by a goal watching with a slightly amused expression – it looked ridiculous.

"I'm Roxanne Aaron, also a first year." Roxanne's voice cut through Alex's mental image, bringing her back to the quidditch practice. The rest of the team exchanged friendly greetings and words of encouragement with the two first years before leaving for their brooms to go and practice. Roxanne and Alex turned to Aura-lee.

"Well then, I'll quickly go over the rules and then we'll start. Well firstly, I'm sure you know that quidditch is played in the air on brooms. There are seven players per team and each house has a team, so four teams. In one team, there are 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 1 keeper and 1 seeker." She stopped as she bent down to crouch next to a strong metal box that was on the ground. She unlatched it and flipped the lid open but she was in the way so the two girls couldn't make out the box's contents. "Quidditch has three balls. The ball that scores the points is the Quaffle." She reached into the box and after a few seconds, she lifted up a ball. It was around 12 inches in diameter and was made of leather bindings. "The chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try to get it through the three hoops on their side of the pitch. The keeper on the opposing team will try and stop the balls from going through and scoring. On the other side the keeper – that's me – guards the three hoops for our team and tries to stop the other team scoring." She showed the ball to them for the length of her small speech before putting it back.

"The next ball is the Bludger." This time she moved the box for the girls to see. The box was made of three compartments. There was only one open. In that one, chained to the box was a large, solid looking ball which was wriggling and straining against the chains. "The Bludger is probably the most dangerous ball of all of them. It flies through the air being hit by players called beaters – that's what Sam and Jordan are. They stop the Bludger from hitting their team and try to bat it off to the other team. Serious injuries have been caused by Bludgers hitting people and causing them to fall off their brooms, but don't worry, we have Jordan and Sam on our team; you'll be fine" she quickly added after seeing Alex and Roxanne's horrified faces. She closed the compartment and opened another.

"The third and most important ball is the Golden Snitch." The _Golden Snitch _was a tiny golden ball, about the size of the bouncy ball Alex and Rose were playing with earlier. "It has wings that come out when you let it out and it's enchanted. Actually, the first Snitch was a tiny bird that was very small and very tiny, but changes to the rules made it illegal to use the actual bird, so we upgraded to this. Okay, so the seekers job is to find and catch the Golden Snitch before the other teams Seeker does. If the Seeker catches the Golden Snitch, their team earns 150 points and usually wins the match. The match only ends when the seekers caught the ball. Well that's about it. We have two spaces, as I said yesterday – a Chaser and the seeker. So we'll just see which you're better at." The two girls nodded and followed Aura-lee into the pitch after Aura-lee bent down and took out the Quaffle and Snitch. They each grabbed a broom and the three of them mounted and flew up into the air.

When they were in the air they stopped. "Hey! Ashton! Come here!" Aura-lee yelled. The ebony skinned Chaser flew over to them. "Ashton, you take Alex, and try her out for chaser. I'll try Roxanne out for Seeker then we'll swop over." Jean nodded and Aura-lee threw her the ball. Jean caught it expertly.

"Aye aye captain, c'mon Alex, let's go." Alex steered her broom to follow Jean into the middle of the pitch. "Okay, let's start of easy, we'll play catch. I'll throw it to you, you throw it back. Okay? Go!" Jean threw the ball gently to Alex. Alex caught it and threw it back to Jean who caught it too. "Good. Now let's move out a bit." They both moved back a few feet then tried again. Jean threw the ball over to Alex who caught it again. Alex threw it back to Jean but Jean had to move forward a bit to catch it whereas Alex had not had to reach out to catch Jeans throw. "Try throwing it a bit harder next time." Jean told Alex,

"Okay, let's try again." she replied. Jean threw her the ball and she threw it back harder. Jean caught it easily.

"Good. Now the next stage. I'll show you first. I want you to throw it as hard as you can – not at me though, just to the side me. I'll chase after it and catch it then throw it back to you." Jean tossed Alex the ball once she was sure she understood. Alex took a deep breath before throwing the ball as hard as she could. Jean paused to smile at Alex before chasing after the ball at blinding speed and catching the ball easily and throwing it back to Alex. Alex was sure she only caught it because of Jeans good throw. Jean raced back to Alex and took the ball from her. "Now it's your turn." Jean threw the Quaffle and it soared passed Alex. Alex instantly turned her broom around and zoomed after the ball and caught it. She then threw it back and watched, smiling, as the ball flew through the air. Her smile faded though as the ball never reached Jean and started to fall down to the pitch floor. Jean took a dive but wasn't fast enough to catch up with the ball. It landed on the floor with a thud and Jean landed and retrieved the ball then flew back up to meet Alex. Before she could speak, Aura-lee flew up to them, closely followed by Roxanne whose face of disappointed matched Alex's.

"Are you ready to switch Ashton?" She asked and Jean nodded. They switched and Alex followed Aura-lee while Roxanne stayed with Jean. Alex followed Aura-lee to the corner of the pitch before they both stopped. "Okay, we're going to see if you're any good as a seeker. We'll get straight to the chase 'cause we're a bit short on time. I'll set the Snitch off and you have to find it and catch it. Okay?" Alex nodded, hoping she would be better at this than Chaser try outs although she knew she was at no obligation to join the team and it had been them that had asked her to join and not the other way round but she felt the strong need to prove herself.

Aura-lee smiled before taking the tiny Golden Snitch out of her pocket. "Three… two… one… GO." she released the Snitch on the word go and, although she had already told Alex about them, Alex was surprised when a pair of tiny white wings shot out of either side of the snitch. It hovered in the air for a few seconds before it zoomed in a speed so fast that Alex instantly lost sight of it. "Okay, go find it." Aura-lee said and, not needing to be told twice, she zoomed after where she thought the Snitch had gone. She searched the area having a sudden sense of déjà vu. Hadn't she been doing just this before quidditch practice with Rose and the bouncy ball? Her eyes widened slightly as she realised that, yes, she was right. It was just the same as that game.

Her eyes scanned the area with a new hope and soon she spotted a blur of gold whizzing past her. She immediately chased it, tailing it. It was, admittedly harder than the game with Rose and the Snitch seemed to have a mind of its own. She followed it for a while, losing sight of it now and again but always finding it fairly quickly.

Around fifteen minutes passed as she tried to catch the snitch. She was losing hope as she found that it was next to impossible to catch as its surface was a shiny and smooth metal that slipped through your fingers and struggled to get away when caught, unlike the bouncy ball. She was hovering high in the air, looking for it again when she then saw her chance. It was a few feet below her still in the air. She knew it wouldn't last for long and she had to act immediately, so she dived suddenly down to the oblivious snitch. As she swooped down, she held one hand out and, as she passed the snitch, she was delighted to feel her fingers wrap round the cool metal. It fluttered about in her hand, trying to escape, but she held it firmly as she pulled out of the dive and returned to Aura-lee, her face triumphant. She held out the Snitch and Aura-lee took it, grinning. She seemed to press something and the wings folded back into the golden sides of the snitch.

"Well done Alex! That was very good." Aura-lee said, trying to contain her excitement. "Let's go down and wait for Roxanne and Jean." They returned to the ground and Alex returned their brooms while Aura-lee put the Golden Snitch back in its box. Once the two of them had settled down, Alex suddenly felt the freezing winds of the weather and started shivering, drawing her cloak round her and wondering why she hadn't felt it before. She was probably preoccupied.

A few minutes later, Jean and Roxanne landed and, after packing away, headed over to them. Aura-lee stood up from her seat on sandy ground and Alex followed suit. "Are you done?" She asked and Jean nodded.

"Yup."

"Good, we need to decide on their positions if they want to join the team." Aura-lee stated. "So, Alex first, how did she do with Chasing?"

"She was… quite good." Jean said hesitantly.

"Any notes?" Aura-lee asked.

"Well, she's good at catching, really good. However, her throwing's a little off." Jean said shooting Alex an apologetic look. Alex smiled, showing her that it was okay, she knew she wasn't the best at throwing.

"Okay, and Roxanne?"

"She was… very good." Jean said smiling. "Perfect catching and throwing." Roxanne beamed and Alex felt a surge of pride for her best friend.

"Okay, now to me. I'll start with Roxanne." Aura-lee switched to the topic of seeker. "She was okay, but it took her a great length of time to find the snitch and then catching it was… well she didn't. To be honest, I can't either."

"It's bloody impossible." Roxanne whispered to Alex. "We lost the snitch." Alex bit her lip, fighting a smile picturing Roxanne and Aura-lee searching for the snitch.

"Alex, however, did manage to find and catch it in the space of around twenty-five minutes." She said and Alex let a smile escape at her achievement, she was very proud.

"Well I guess that figures out the positions." Jean said and Aura-lee nodded.

"You're right Ashton, there's no deciding. Alex, you'll be Seeker and Roxanne, you'll be A Chaser with Ashton and Daniels." She paused. "Well, that's if you want to join the team." She added quickly and hopefully. The two girls shared a look that said _'should we?' _before they both smiled simultaneously and nodded.

"We'll do it." Alex spoke for the both of them and Aura-lee smiled widely.

"That's great!" She said enthusiastically. Roxanne looked at her watch which showed 8:25.

"Umm… we have Astronomy at 8:30, can we go?" Roxanne asked.

"What time is it now?" Aura-lee asked. Roxanne showed her the watch. "8:25, well, okay then. I'll inform the rest of the team that you'll be joining us. Practises are on Thursdays and Tuesdays. 7:00pm – 8:40pm. I guess I'll see you on Tuesday." She waved and the two girls left the pitch. Alex hadn't realised that almost an hour and a half had passed already; it had gone so quickly, it only felt like half an hour at most. The two girls hurried up to the castles, clutching their cloaks and shivering but grinning and laughing. They reached the castle and proceeded to make their way to the astronomy tower.

"So what were you doing with Jaden before?" Alex asked suddenly remembering.

"W… what? Who told you I was with Jaden?" She asked nervously.

"I guessed. Looks like I was right." Alex laughed.

"I was just helping out." Roxanne said.

"_Really_." It wasn't a question.

"Yes! Really!" Roxanne defended. "What else would I be doing?" Alex grinned; Roxanne had dug herself into that one.

"Oh I don't know." Alex said hinting otherwise and Roxanne blushed furiously as she gently batted Alex round the head with her hand. The two girls laughed for a while then fell silent; the only sound was their soft footsteps echoing in the silent corridors. And, feeling frozen to the bone but elated and victorious, the two girls headed up to the astronomy tower for their last class, smiles evident on their faces.

_**A.N: So how was it? Good? Bad? Review and tell me what you think. I love it when you review, it makes me smile... like this :). lol. Also, I've gone through the previouse chapters and edited them slightly to get rid of mistakes etc. Just thought I'd tell you. xxx So, review and I'll get another chapter up A.S.A.P. :) cya. **_

**_Smileytiger xxx :P_**


	11. Chapter 10 Doubts

**_A.N: _****_Hey everyone. Did you have a good summer? Can't believe it's over already… Well, here is the next chapter. Actually, I wasn't planning on uploading a chapter today but my friend pestered me until I decided to cut the chapter I was writing in two and upload the first half today. I'm sorry I haven't updated much during the summer but I've been really busy… Hope I can have the next half up soon, but, until then… enjoy xxx_**

**_Thanks to all those people who have read and reviewed, I love you all! _**

The Yoshinator : **_To be honest, I'm not so sure…. If you have any ideas, let me know :) xxx_**

xXallegedangelXx: **_Your review made me smile…. I can't tell you if your right or wrong. You are smart though… I'll tell you why when all is reviled… thanks for reading and reviewing and I'm glad you like it. :P xxx_**

lightnings pride: **_Glad you like it... thanks for reading and reviewing :) xxx_**

missvampyrelover: **_Thanks. I am actually writing a few stories, but this is the only one I'm working on for fan fiction, the rest are original. Thanks for reading and reviewing, you reminded me that I needed to update soon :) xxx_**

**____****Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters.**

Chapter 10 – Doubts

"Alex, Roxanne! How did it go?" Rose ran up to the said girls once the astronomy professor had dismissed them. They three girls had not had a chance to talk before the lesson as Roxanne and Alex had been slightly late. They had been delayed by the school mischievous poltergeist Peeves who had decided it would be a good time throw the contents of a packet of '_Bertie Botts every flavour beans' _at them and then, when the two girls had complained that they would be late to class, trick them into taking what they thought was a short cut but was actually a lengthened rout which sent them doubling back to the way to the quidditch pitch before finally realising they had been tricked. The two girls had rushed up to the astronomy tower and, instead of being early as they had planned before they met Peeves, they arrived with only seconds to spare before the professor arrived. They thanked their lucky stars that the Professor had chosen that day to be late.

"It was amazing!" Roxanne said grinning as she answered Roses question.

"It really was! We're both on the team!" Alex added a huge smile on her face and, not needing more encouragement, the two girls launched into their accounts of their first quidditch practice. Rose listened, a feeling of great pride radiating from her as she smiled at their excited voices. Although Rose admitted she wasn't too keen on quidditch, she was glad her friends made the team and agreed that she would come to watch the games and support them when the quidditch season started even though she would not usually have chosen to go. The three girls were walking down the astronomy tower, still talking excitedly and making plans as they headed for Ravenclaw tower when a small voice called out.

"Hey! Rose, Roxanne, Alex! Wait up!" The three girls turned round to see a small girl with pale blonde hair and washed out blue eyes running to catch up to them.

"Hey Gianna." Rose greeted and Alex smiled in welcome as the three of them stopped to let the girl catch up. Gianna stopped next to them, hunched over, hands on her knees and panting slightly. After a few seconds she straightened up, breathing normally and tucked her unbelievably straight hair behind her ear, smiling up at them shyly.

"Hi. Sorry, I had to wait behind after astronomy to talk to the professor but I really wanted to talk to you three so I ran to catch you up." She explained still grinning. Alex and Roxanne shared a quick look, both remembering that Gianna was also in their astronomy class having not noticed her before.

"What did she want?" Rose asked, talking about Professor Lune, their astronomy teacher.

"Oh, I forgot to label Saturn." She told them looking slightly embarrassed, her cheeks turning a faint shade of red.

"Oh, okay." Rose said, understanding. "What did you want to talk to us about?" Gianna turned to Alex and Roxanne who had been standing awkwardly aside, watching the conversation but not really taking part.

"It seemed like something happened. You two weren't there at the beginning of the lesson and after you seemed really excited. I was just curious." Gianna didn't directly ask the question but they knew what she wanted to ask. When the girls hesitated Gianna spoke again. "Come on, I won't tell anyone if it's a secret. You can trust me." Alex thought for a moment before deciding that no harm would come from telling the small girl in front of them, and so, with a look at Roxanne and Rose, she began to explain.

"Well, remember at our first flying lesson last Wednesday?" Gianna nodded. The Hufflepuff's had shared that lesson with the Ravenclaw's and Gianna had watched Alex and Roxanne's stunt along with the rest of the crowd. "Well remember when Professor Woods took us out of the lesson early after the incident with Penny and her broom?" Alex paused and Gianna nodded again. Satisfied with the response, Alex continued. "Well he took us to see the Ravenclaw quidditch captain and apparently the Ravenclaw team were two spaces short, so she asked us if we wanted to join. We told her we'd think about it so she told us to come to practice today." Alex paused for breath letting Roxanne take over.

"We went and had a go. It was really fun, so we decided to join." Roxanne concluded. Gianna was grinning excitedly at the girls' story. She couldn't believe her luck though she didn't say anything. There was a moments of awkward silence before Gianna spoke up.

"So, what positions do you two play?" She asked curiously.

"Well, I'm playing chaser and Alex is…" Roxanne looked at Alex, having momentarily forgotten the position name.

"Seeker." Alex announced, at the same time reminding Roxanne whose face now carried a look of enlightenment.

"Yeah, that was it." Roxanne said absentmindedly. Rose grinned as the two girls re-told their story to Gianna when a thought hit her.

"Hey Gianna, why don't you come with me to watch them when quidditch season starts. I'm not really into quidditch but I promised I'd go, it would be a lot more exciting if you came too." Rose suggested and Gianna's face brightened if that was possible.

"Sure! I'd love to come. I'm not really into quidditch but I was going to watch anyways. So I'll watch with you." She grinned before turning to Alex and Roxanne again. "By the way, when are Ravenclaw practices?" She asked.

"Umm… Tuesday and Thursday I think. Why?" Alex answered and questioned.

"I was just wondering…" Gianna trailed off, sounding unsure but the three girls didn't seem to notice.

"Well, okay then." Roxanne said before turning back to Alex. "Well, shall we go?" She asked. "I'm beat." Roxanne's muscles ached from flying and she was starting to sniff from being exposed to the cold elements as well as those feelings, Roxanne could feel a tiredness which slowly intensified due to the day's excitement. Alex feeling matched Roxanne's exactly and she knew if she didn't rest soon, she would struggle to wake up the following day.

"Yeah, so am I. Let's go." Alex agreed grabbing both Roxanne and Rose's arm after waving to Gianna. "See ya, Gi." Gianna muttered a reply before the three girls set off to the Ravenclaw common room again.

As soon as they reached, Roxanne and Alex headed straight to the dorms and were asleep in an instant leaving Rose to read her book in one of the common room armchairs.

That was two week ago. Almost half a month had flown by since the two girls joined the quidditch team and it was Thursday again… the day of their 6th quidditch practice. By this point, they were getting the hang of quidditch and where now doing pretty well, Aura-lee Chang was in high spirits as she predicted that this year, Ravenclaw had a good chance of winning the cup though she told the team repeatedly that it would be difficult to beat Gryffindor who had held the quidditch cup since James Potter had joined two years ago – the Gryffindor team had also bent a few rules and let him join in his first year after hearing the tales of his father and the teams success when Harry Potter was in school and playing quidditch for Gryffindor. However, Aura-lee Chang was undeterred and was completely convinced that if they practiced long enough and if they tried hard enough, they would beat the Gryffindor team. She had also told her beliefs to the team so many times that they started to believe them and, were not put off at all by Gryffindors winning streak. They were all convinced that this would be the year that they would beat them and Aura-lee Chang thrived of her team's enthusiasm. So, on this particular Thursday, she strolled down the stairway that led from the Ravenclaw fifth year dorms to the common room with a large smile on her face, her dark orientally shaped eyes – in contrast with her light skin – gleaming with excitement as she anticipated the oncoming practice that took place this afternoon. This would be their last practice before the quidditch season was scheduled to start on Monday the 1st of October. Though it wouldn't be their last practice before their first game, which took place in at least 3 – 4 weeks – although she couldn't be sure until she got the game schedule – it was equally important as when the quidditch season started, the calm and carefully strategized rotor on which team got the pitch on which day would fall to pieces as it did every year at this time and the four teams would be battling to gain the pitch for extra practice times. Though this fact failed to destroy Aura-lee's good mood as she entered the common room met her friends and headed down to the great hall for breakfast.

Alex watched Aura-lee as she sat down at the Ravenclaw table and returned the bright grin Aura-lee shot her. It never failed to surprise her how good in a mood her team captain was even with the Quidditch season quickly approaching and the pressure rising just as quickly, if not faster. Most of it landed on Alex out of everyone in the team as she was the seeker. Catching the snitch was worth 150 points and although Aura-lee and the rest of the team continually told her she was very good, she doubted that, when up against James Potter, she would catch the snitch first. Although she didn't deny the fact that she was quite good at playing seeker, she knew – though she had never seen him play – that James Potter was an excellently talented seeker. That was if the rumours where true – which she was sure they were. She didn't want to lose to that arrogant James Potter, it would not only increase the size of his oversized, swollen head, it would also be terribly mortifying and she would disappoint her team. However, she did not voice her worries to the rest of the Ravenclaw quidditch team as she did not want to destroy their high spirits. She hadn't even told Roxanne or Rose who were both equally as excited for the upcoming games.

Alex ate her cornflakes mournfully as she mulled over her worries silently. Beside her, Roxanne was having an animated discussion with Jean Ashton about the oncoming quidditch practice and who Ravenclaw would be playing first. On her other side sat rose, as usual immersed in a book. Neither of her friends where paying attention to Alex and therefore didn't notice her moody attitude which Alex was grateful for because, though she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of their carefree attitudes and bright moods, she didn't want them to worry about her. Everyone on the Ravenclaw table was busy conversing with those around them so Alex had a short while to mope by herself with anyone noticing before she would have to put on a bright smile for class. Well, almost everyone was busy.

"Hey Adams!" A voice sounded from behind her and she jumped in her seat, startled. She whipped around to see Jordan and Sam, the two beaters standing behind her and grinning cheekily.

"Hi guys." She responded half-heartedly. The two boys laughed.

"Well, someone's enthusiastic isn't she?" Jordan said sarcastically and Sam grinned.

"Budge up." He said and he and Jordan squeezed in and sat on the bench in between Alex and Roxanne. Roxanne turned at this and gave them an annoyed look before turning back to Jean. Though they could be annoying and always mischievous, Alex welcomed their company as they always managed to distract her from whatever she was doing, whether it be good or bad.

"So what's up? Not looking forward to the quidditch season?" Jordan asked and Alex smiled warily.

"Not particularly." Alex couldn't help but be honest with the two boys.

"Why?" Sam asked. "You nervous?" Alex groaned. The two boys were supposed to be helping her forget about the quidditch season, not remind her.

"It's alright to be nervous you know. It's your first time competing. We all were." Jordan said seriously and Sam nodded solemnly. It made Alex smirk. The troublemaking twins – as they were also known as even though they weren't related – being serious, unheard of!

"You just worry about catching the snitch; we'll keep the Bludgers' at bay…" Sam said grinning cheekily again.

"…or aiming for the other team's brooms." Jordan finished also grinning.

"Okay, just don't seriously injure anyone." Alex tried to sound firm but she was trying not to laugh.

"Seriously hurt anyone? What do you take us for?" The 'twins' feigned surprise and held their hands over their 'wounded' hearts in mock hurt. Alex couldn't help but smile warily at the two boys' antics and as she, Roxanne and Rose left the great hall for class, her sour mood had lifted and she felt happier and lighter.

Her good mood lasted until the end of Care of Magical Creatures. She was leaning on the wooden picket fence that surrounded Hagrid's hut, waiting for Roxanne who was talking to Jaden. Rose had gone on ahead, promising to wait for them in the library where Alex was sure she would be sitting in one of the armchairs, reading a thick, leather bound book as she usually did. She had told Roxanne she would wait for her so they could go to Quidditch practice together. Aura-lee Chang had wanted to start practice early so they could have longer to prepare. Alex was fine with all of this; in fact, she welcomed the idea of a longer practice, though it was tiring, she needed all the practice she could get before their first game. Aura-lee said that she had got the schedule from Professor Woods that afternoon and the entire team, including Alex, was anticipating when their first game would be and who against.

No it wasn't any of these things that ended Alex's pleasant mood, nor was it something of great importance. It was just one person who 'caused Alex's foul mood to recur. It was the one person who had been plaguing Alex's mind with worries and doubts, though she had not seen him since that day on the train. But he reappeared then, as she was waiting for Roxanne.

A calm silence had settled over and around Hagrid's hut, so when Alex heard the faint sound of footsteps, she whipped round to where the noise had come from. There, just a little way away from the hut, were three tall figures walking down the path. Though they were too far away to hear, it looked as if they were having an animated conversation. Alex could see the figures where students but could not see their faces and so did not recognise them. She turned slowly back round to face the hut to continue waiting. She ignored the footsteps as they neared the hut until she heard one of the three students speak. "Hey, James, when we get back, show us your broom." Though the voice was not too deep, it obviously belonged to a male but this fact barely registered in Alex's mind as another thought had caught her attention. '_James? As in James Potter?' _Alex's thoughts were filled with dread. _'No, it can't be.' _She reassured herself._ 'But it can't hurt to check.'_ Alex slowly turned round, making sure that her curtain of black hair hid her face from the three students.

They were a lot nearer now, just about a meter or two away from the fence Alex was standing at, though she didn't think they noticed her. She looked the figures up and down. The three of them were male. The first one, the one nearest to Alex, had dreadlocks, brown eyes and a dark complexion. The one on the right was the opposite with pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. But Alex's eyes slid over the two so quickly that she didn't have time to recall her names. Her eyes went straight to the one who was standing in the middle. If his chestnut coloured hair and eyes weren't a giveaway then his arrogant smirk definitely was. Alex's fears where confirmed as James Potter smirked. "Sure." James informed the blonde whom Alex now recognised as Louis Weasley.

"Which broom?" The guy with the dreadlocks asked.

"You don't know Ash?" Louis asked in disbelief. Alex realised that the first boy was Ash Jordan from the train. "We've only been talking about it _all_ morning."

"I wasn't here this morning, remember? I was in detention with Loony Lovegood."

"Oh yeah." James smirked. "I'll tell you then…"

"It's only the best broom in history!" Louis cut in.

"Yup, the fastest, smoothest and coolest broom ever. Its only just come out." James informed Ash who had a look of awe on his face. "It's the _Blaze 5,000."_

"Really?! Wow, I don't think they are even being advertised yet! How did you get your hands on one of them. It's impossible, even for a Potter." Ash asked and James laughed.

"Well not for me. My dad knows a guy." James said still smirking.

"This is really good for Gryffindor, with a broom like that, there's no way we can lose the quidditch cup!" Louis rejoiced and Alex's mood, which had already turned sour at the sight of James, worsened incredibly, all her hopes of winning the quidditch cup disappearing by the second. There was no way she could win, especially on one of the schools brooms.

"Hey James, who's that outside Hagrid's hut? Doesn't she look familiar?" Ash asked, finally spotting Alex, though he couldn't see her face through her thick curtain of hair which was shielding her from view.

"Not really." He said.

"Let's just hope it's not some teachers pet, we don't want her to report to McGonagall that we're ditching." Louis said quietly though Alex still caught it.

"Who would turn in the famous James Potter?" James asked, smirking and the two laughed.

"You're right let's go." Ash agreed as the three boys walked passed Alex's hiding place, following the path and on into the distance.

_**A.N: **_**_So there you have it. Sorry it's not very action packed or exciting… it's more of a fill in chapter. Guaranteed the next chapter will be more exciting though. I hope you all liked it. From now on, I'll send a preview of the next chapter to all the people who review, so review and I'll send you a short snippet of the following chapter ASAP. R&R people and have a good first day of school tomorrow…. if you start school tomorrow. xxxx_**

**_Smileytiger :P xxx_**


	12. Chapter 11 Jinx

**_A.N: Hey guys… It turns out that I am still alive… _**

**_I'm so so sorry that it has taken me sooo long to upload a new chapter. I've had a really tough last three months with some really bad things that happened and I haven't really felt like writing. I did force myself to write the chapter though, sometime in October… but I wrote it on paper and then half of the papers disappeared! (I lost them) and I really hate re-writing things so that took a while. (Anyway I think this version is better). Anyway, so tonight I finally got down and finished the chapter and I'm going to start writing the next one right away. I feel really bad, seeing as the chapter I left you with wasn't really a proper chapter, at it took me so long to upload. So I'm really sorry. :( _**

**_Anyway, on a brighter note… thank you soooooooo much to:_**

The Yoshinator: **_I really don't know! I didn't realise what I had done until I had done it and now I can't think of any acceptable things… Please tell me any ideas, anything you think is fine because you are the people who read this story and what you think matters the most because I want to produce something that you will like and enjoy reading. Also thank you so much for continuously reading and reviewing my chapters. It really makes my day :) xxxxxx_**

lightnings pride: **_I know, I suck at uploading new chapters. I'm sorry and I'll try harder. Thanx so much for reading and reviewing, it makes me really happy to see people appreciating and enjoying my work. :) xxxxxx_**

Amethyst sparks: **_Hi, I'm glad that you like this story. Yeah, I know, some people have already picked up on that. I don't know whether I should go back and change some things or continue with how it is. It's like that because I had a different plan for this story at the start but then I changed it so it isn't very important anymore… though I can try and worm something into the plot. I was trying to do what you are suggesting but I can't think of any acceptable ideas… so like I told the others, please can you give me some ideas to make her seem a bit flawed. Anything you think will work because I want this story to be something that you guys will like enjoy reading. I'm also sorry for keeping you waiting with his chapter, but the wait is finally over. Thanx for reviewing, it means a lot. :) _**

**_Also thank you to everyone who has favourite and followed this story… I love you all! Feel free to leave a review, and I will leave you a shout out in the next chapter. :) xxxxxx_**

_****____**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters.**_

_Previously in Chapter 10 - Doubts_

_"Yup, the fastest, smoothest and coolest broom ever. Its only just come out." James informed Ash who had a look of awe on his face. "It's the Blaze 5,000."_

_"Really?! Wow, I don't think they are even being advertised yet! How did you get your hands on one of them. It's impossible, even for a Potter." Ash asked and James laughed._

_"Well not for me. My dad knows a guy." James said still smirking._

_"This is really good for Gryffindor, with a broom like that, there's no way we can lose the quidditch cup!" Louis rejoiced and Alex's mood, which had already turned sour at the sight of James, worsened incredibly, all her hopes of winning the quidditch cup disappearing by the second. There was no way she could win, especially on one of the schools brooms. _

_"Hey James, who's that outside Hagrid's hut? Doesn't she look familiar?" Ash asked, finally spotting Alex, though he couldn't see her face through her thick curtain of hair which was shielding her from view. _

_"Not really." He said. _

_"Let's just hope it's not some teachers pet, we don't want her to report to McGonagall that we're ditching." Louis said quietly though Alex still caught it._

_"Who would turn in the famous James Potter?" James asked, smirking and the two laughed. _

_"You're right let's go." Ash agreed as the three boys walked passed Alex's hiding place, following the path and on into the distance. _

Chapter 11 – Jinx

"Hey, Alex! I'm done, come on, let's go." Roxanne called loudly as she ran towards the familiar figure which was Alex. Alex looked up as she approached and smiled warily though, it actually looked more like a grimace. Roxanne frowned at Alex who stopped trying to smile. Roxanne was confused at her friend's sudden bad mood. She had noticed that she had been in a bad mood earlier, though she had not let on, but it had disappeared this morning after breakfast. Roxanne had suspected it had something to do with the oncoming quidditch season and her suspicions had been confirmed when she overheard Alex's conversation with Jordan and Sam at breakfast. She was extremely glad the two boys had managed to cheer Alex up but was at loss at the sudden return of her bad mood. "What's with that face?" she asked referring to Alex's miserable looking frown but Alex just shook her head. Roxanne raised an eyebrow sceptically and frowned. Alex sighed at her expression.

"Come on, I'll tell you later." Alex said and Roxanne agreed. The two set of walking down the path, away from Hagrid's hut and towards the quidditch pitch.

They arrived at the quidditch pitch momentarily after to find the rest of the team where already there and were now waiting for them. The team members greeted the two girls as they approached and were about to start practice when two extra figures appeared outside the quidditch pitch. Alex looked up from her conversation with Jacob Daniels, one of the chasers, to see none other than Rose and Gianna who both waved cheerfully when they saw Alex was looking. Alex waved and smiled good naturedly as the two girls walked over to where the team were standing.

"Hey guys." Rose and Gianna called as they came to a stop.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Roxanne asked, voicing what Alex had been thinking.

"We decided to come watch practice." Rose said but was interrupted by Gianna.

"If that's okay…" She trailed of uncertainly. Roxanne and Alex laughed Gianna's shyness before asking Aura-lee, who was standing nearby, if their friends could sit through the practice and watch.

"Sure they can watch, if they stay out of the way." Aura-lee answered happily and Rose and Gianna, who were within hearing distance, grinned.

"Thanks, we won't disturb you. You won't even know we're here." Rose assured her before turning back to Gianna. "Come on, let's go and find somewhere to sit and watch."

"Yeah, okay. See you guys later." Gianna and Rose turned to leave the quidditch pitch.

"Hey, wait a minute; I have something I need to tell everyone." Alex called out, grabbing the whole team's attention as well as her two friends with her panicked voice. She needed to tell them about the oncoming threat, though she didn't want to crush their happiness, they needed to know…

The team gathered around Alex as they waited for her to start talking and silence hung in the air at the look of her solemn expression. They didn't have to wait long due to Alex's earlier impatience to tell the team what she saw which suddenly blazed powerful again at the sight of her waiting team members. Her mouth opened on its own accord and the earlier events tumbled forth from her open lips and into the chilly air. "I was waiting for Roxanne after class just now. We were at Hagrid's hut and I was waiting outside for her to finish talking to..." she was interrupted by a sharp glare from Roxanne and Alex quickly altered her story so as not to embarrass her friend. "...to Hagrid about the home work he assigned us." Roxanne shot her a grateful look and Alex smiled slightly as she continued talking. "Anyway; so I was standing outside, waiting, when I saw three figures walking down the hill. When I looked closer, I realised that they were Ash Jordan, Louis Weasley and James Potter." a look of disgust slipped on her face as she mentioned his name and the rest of the team nodded understandingly. None of them really liked the arrogant James Potter though it was never said to his face, or behind his back for fear of being overheard and the person falling victim to James's obsessive bullying. "Well I overheard some of their conversation. Apparently James has a new broom, the latest one - I can't remember what it's called..." she was interrupted by Sam.

"The_ Blaze 5,000_?" He asked though he already knew as the broom companies now had started to work together to generate the most powerful brooms. Because of this there were fewer brooms being released with maybe only one being released every other year.

"Yeah, that's the one." his suspicions were confirmed when Alex answered. The Ravenclaw quidditch team, who all had an insanely large amount of knowledge on broomsticks, - with the exception of Alex and Roxanne - faces dropped in dismay.

"But that's not even been released properly; it's not even in the shops yet!" Jordan exclaimed "Are sure that's the right one?" Alex nodded glumly before continuing.

"He isn't worried about the quidditch match at all." Alex finished.

One of the team members muttered. "Who would be with a broom like that? We have no chance."  
Alex couldn't help but agree with that person and, though she couldn't help feeling bad for putting the rest of the team in a bad mood, she couldn't help but feel relieved that everyone was thinking along the same lines as her, however negative they were. However, one person remained strong as usual.

"Now now, who said we couldn't beat them? We're as good as them; we could take them on any day." Aura-Lee the positive team captain protested, unaffected by the current glum atmosphere.

"Not with those brooms we can't." Jean Ashton said and the team nodded.

"Well I admit the brooms are a bit of a problem, but we still have a chance. I mean, ours are decent enough and it's not like the whole Gryffindor team have_ Blaze 5,000_'s . What I'm worried about is Alex and Roxanne, well especially Alex. They have to play on school brooms 'cause their first years. First years can't have their own brooms. And Alex has to go against Potter and that broom."

"So what do we do then?" Jean asked and Aura-Lee thought for a moment checker answering.

"We need to get some better quality brooms for Roxanne and Alex. There must be some stored away in the school somewhere. Maybe we can ask professor Woods. I'm sure he would lend them too us." The team's earlier expressions of hopelessness lifted slightly as they listened to Aura-lee's idea.

"If we have better brooms we might have a chance." Jean stated and the team hummed in agreement.

"Where do you think we can get them, the brooms?" Roxanne asked. "Where should we look?" The whole team looked at Aura-lee for answers as it was her idea and she was the team captain.

Aura-lee suddenly had to work harder to keep her look of confidence from falling from her face as the teams eyes bored into her own. To be honest with herself, she had no answer to their questions. Though she didn't want to admit is, she didn't know anywhere in the school that kept spare brooms which were both good quality and fairly new. She didn't want to let her team down but she couldn't think of an acceptable answer.

She opened her mouth unwillingly to tell them that she didn't know, but was spared the humiliation from seeing the disappointed looks on her team members faces by one of the visitors who had turned up to watch practice.

"I have an idea!" Gianna called out much to everyone's surprise. Their attention immediately averted from Aura-lee to the small, shy blonde girl. She blushed at her sudden outburst but after a few persuading looks shot from the team, she continued. "On my first week here, I stumbled by a small store cupboard and in it where loads of brooms. We could check in there, there must be at least one good broom in that cupboard." Gianna finished and the team's faces practically glowed, not believing their luck.

"Seriously!" This statement was not judging but in disbelief and came from almost every mouth in the once despairing Ravenclaw quidditch team. However, the voice of the team captain, Aura-lee Chang was the loudest as she had much practice shouting for her team members to hear her over the rushing wind. "But, do you still remember where it is?" This question sobered the team up slightly and they held their breaths as Gianna answered.

"I think so." She said unsurely. "I'm think I can find it again." The team released their breaths, satisfied with the answer.

"Well okay then. Should we all go to get them?" Jean asked. Gianna paused for a moment before shaking her head.

"No its okay, you should get on with practice. I'll go now." Gianna said before turning away from them and facing Rose who was hanging back slightly "Rose, can you come with me? I'll need a bit of help carrying them back."

"Sure." Rose agreed easily and they both waved before leaving the pitch and heading for the school.

"Well, you heard her." Aura-lee turned to her team members, her serious, down-to-business captain face back in place. "Let's get started." The team nodded, new determination in their eyes, before grabbing their brooms, mounting them, and flying into the air.

The two girls walked through the empty corridors of the castle, the soles of their shoes hitting the floor with a sharp clop which echoed in the silence. Gianna led the way through the school, keeping a steady pace, and, though she looked confident, Rose was not sure Gianna knew where they were going. But, ignoring her doubts, she faithfully followed her up a few flights of stairs and round seemingly endless hallways and corridors. However, after passing a certain corridor at least three times, Rose got fed up and voiced her concern. "Do you really know where we're going?" Gianna stopped and nodded.

"Yes, I think it's around here, somewhere." Gianna said, looking around uncertainly. Rose sighed, frustrated.

"I don't think it's here." She insisted but Gianna shook her head, silencing her. After a few seconds of uncertain silence Gianna's head shot up.

"See, there it is." She pointed to a small door, almost completely blended in with the wall. Gianna ran towards it, Rose at her heels, and pulled it open.

They both stepped inside the dark storeroom and Gianna closed the door, leaving them in complete and utter darkness. "Better make sure no one notices us taking the brooms." She explained before reaching her hand out to feel her way across the wall, looking for the light switch. Her hand finally touched the cold metal of the switch, and she flicked lights on. Even with the lights on, the room was barley lit and its corners were surrounded in darkness. The room was cold and gave of an eerie feeling which made Rose immediately uncomfortable. Gianna didn't seem to feel it though as she turned to Rose, a big smile on her face, before skipping of towards a pile of things Rose couldn't make out. As she moved closer, however, she recognised them as brooms. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling swirling in the cold air, Rose eagerly joined Gianna who was digging through the piles of brooms, looking for a good one. Gianna suddenly pulled out a fairly new broom and held it out to Rose.

"What about this one?" She asked and Rose read the gold writing engraved in the brooms highly polished wooden handle. She saw that it was one of the newer _Firebolts_ and she knew they wouldn't be any better than that. In fact, she was surprised that such a new broom would be in such a messy pile. Though the _firebolt_ was good, it was no match for James's _Blaze 5000_ which was the state of the art broom. Alex would still need a lot of skill and luck to beat him. But it was the best they could do.

"That one's great! Now we just need one more. Do you think there are any more than that?" Rose asked Gianna who shook her head sadly.

"I doubt it, we were lucky enough to find one." She said and Rose nodded understandingly.

"Okay, well lets quickly get another okay broom and we can go back." Rose and Gianna went back to rooting through the pile until they found another broom which would be good enough for Roxanne, who, with her position in the game, would not be against anyone with an extremely powerful broom. The broom make was _Pluto 2005 _and it was also fairly fast and well kept.

After collecting the two brooms, the two girls turned to leave. Gianna opened the door and was stepping out when Rose turned back to look at the small room one last time. She was about to turn and leave when something caught her eye. In the corner, covered in shadows, was a tall, dark cabinet. It looked metallic, though Rose couldn't really tell as the room was fairly dark. Suddenly the little light that was in the room vanished and Rose whizzed around to see that Gianna had switched of the lights.

"Come on, let's go." Gianna called and Rose nodded hesitantly but turned round once to look for thing, which she could barely see in the darkness, once more before stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

Back at the quidditch pitch, the Ravenclaw team were playing an intense game of tag on broom sticks to increase their ability to avoid and catch up to the opposing team. The team had already gone through their basic exercises and drills and, as Gianna and Rose had not returned, Aura-lee had decided to let them play a game of tag whilst waiting. Though the air was cold and the wind harsh, the entire team where wiping sweat from their brows as they raced round the pitch trying to either tag the other players or avoid the team member who was 'it' in hopes of not getting tagged.

The team where on their 10th round before they spotted the two figures run out of the castle and towards the quidditch pitch. "There here!" one of the team members called and the whole team zoomed sown to the floor before dismounting their brooms. They were just in time for Gianna and Rose to arrive.

"We're back." Rose said, panting from her and Gianna's run through the school.

"As we can see…" Roxanne said smiling.

"Did you get the brooms?" Alex asked eagerly. Rose and Gianna nodded through their heavy breathing before holding the brooms up for them to see.

"This one's for Roxanne." Rose said handing the _Pluto 2005_ to Roxanne who took it from her happily and grinned as she looked it over.

"And this one's for Alex." Gianna smiled and handed Alex the _Firebolt_. Alex lifted her hands and took the cool wooden handle of the _Firebolt. _The wood was shiny and smooth, a chestnut colour, and on the handle, engraved in the wood in gold writing, read _Firebolt 15400_. Alex didn't know much about brooms but it looked like a good one.

"What broom is it?" Jordan Parker asked her and Alex looked up from examining the broom.

"It's a _Firebolt_." She answered.

"What generation?" Sam Townson asked before she even had time to take a breath.

"Umm, I'm not sure." Alex said studying the broom again, not sure what indicated the generation of broom.

"Give it here…" Sam said and took the broom from Alex. He examined it for a second before his eyes lit up and a smile spread over his face.

"What is it?" Jordan asked, also trying to look at the broom but Sam pushed him away.

"It's a _Firebolt 15400, _15th generation." He said and the rest of the team, who had been listening in, grinned.

"Well done girls, this was more than what we were expecting." Aura-lee congratulated Rose and Gianna, smiling. Rose smiled back and Gianna turned a shade of red.

"It's quite new as well. I've never ridden one before but they say it's supposed to be quite fast." Jacob Daniels commented. He wasn't really what anyone could call verbose. He was quite quiet and kept to himself, but was an excellent chaser and knew a lot about brooms and quidditch.

"Go on then Alex, give it a go!" Jean said and everyone agreed. Alex looked down, suddenly nervous for some reason she wasn't sure of. Maybe it was because she was getting all of the attention and not Roxanne, who also had a new broom. She was sure that hers was better than Roxanne's as she would have to face James, and Roxanne knew it too, but couldn't they show Roxanne's broom even a little bit of interest? Alex looked over to Roxanne who did seem to notice the teams disinterest in her broom; she was smiling and urging her to try hers out with the rest of them.

"Go on Alex, ride it!" Roxanne shouted over the noise, braking into Alex's thoughts. Well, if Roxanne was okay with it, then why not? Alex smiled and took her broom back from Sam before mounting it. The team members held their breaths in anticipation as Alex readied to set off.

"Okay, just don't go too high until you're used to the feel of it. We don't want our seeker being injured before the games even start." Something about the way she said that unnerved Alex, it was as if it was very likely that she _would _get hurt once the games begun. She pushed this thought out of her head though as Aura-lee continued speaking. "On three!" Aura-lee called out. "One… two… THREE…!" Alex soared into the air. The _Firebolt _was faster than she had expected and way smoother. Comparing it to the school broom she had been using, the _Firebolt_ seemed like the best broom in the world. It moved at the touch of her fingertips, turned left and right at such ridiculously small angles, still maintaining the speed, which was – with lack of a better way to describe it – fast. She zoomed round the pitch, the wind blowing out her hair behind her; smile wide on her face as she enjoyed the speed of the broom. It was hard for her to imagine a better broom than the _Firebolt 15400_. The broom was amazing; she could even imagine winning the quidditch cup with it. Alex absolutely loved it.

That was, until she felt it jerk to a sudden stop, almost throwing her off forward. Her eyes widened, startled, wondering what had happened. Had she made it stop? She didn't think so, she had done nothing different. She was about to urge it to continue moving, thinking she had just accidentally pulled it to a stop, when it moved forward itself. But this time, instead of keeping to the 15 feet barrier Alex had mentally constructed to stop herself from going to high, it zoomed upwards, way faster than Alex had been traveling at before. The speed this time was not exhilarating but was now unpleasant to put it lightly and the worst thing was that Alex had no control whatsoever over what was happening. The broom was moving on its own accord and, as Alex desperately held on to stop herself from falling, it continued to rise at such a rapid rate that her team members where soon out of sight and the quidditch pitch turned into a small, doll house like version. Alex's face was a mask of terror and her hands were warm and clammy with sweat as they clung to the shiny wood of the broom. The broom started to slow as it went higher and Alex was almost level with the top of the high Ravenclaw tower which held the common room and the dorms. She tried to angle the broom back down by pushing the handle down with all her might, but, the broom wish once moved with the slightest encouragement of her fingers was unresponsive and continued on its path upward. However, now, as well as upward, Alex saw that the broom was not only ascending but was also angling itself to the left. This brought Alex a small amount of hope as the steep climb had lessened and the broom was now evening out, but her hopes vanished immediately as she looked down and realised she was no longer thousands of feet above the quidditch pitch but was now thousands of feet above the great lake. Just the fact that she was a thousand feet in the air made Alex's breath catch and her heart beat faster than she knew was humanly possible. Though she was not afraid of heights, this one put fear into her heart and the fact that she was above a great body of water to break her fall – if she fell – did not calm her in the slightest. The great lake was a few hundred yards left of the quidditch pitch and had a huge scale area with many rumoured inhabitants including mermaids and a giant squid who occasionally showed its tentacles above surface.

It was a well-known fact that the great lake was extremely deep and cold and, as Alex did not fancy a dip in its icy waters, she tried as hard as ever to pull the broom away, this time not down but back to the right; however her efforts were in vain and instead of moving, the broom stopped altogether.

For Alex this was both a good and a bad thing. She knew, well hoped, that her team would have already mounted their brooms and would be coming to help her soon and that if she just stayed still, it would be easier. But she also hated the thought of her falling off the broom which seemed to have been possessed by something. But, after much thought, she decided that staying still was _much_ better than moving higher and so she decided to sit tight until her team mates came to rescue her.

She had just decided this, however, when she felt a jerk come from underneath her. It was the broom. She grabbed on to it tighter than ever as another jerk tossed her in her seat. And then the broom went all out. It tossed and jerked like a wild bull trying to unseat Alex who hung on for dear life. She thought she had been doing quite well staying on until one final jerk sent her over the edge of her broom. Alex screamed as the body of the broom left her and she fell off but just in time, her hand reached out and caught the slim handle of the broom. And that was how she found herself dangling on a broom at a few thousand feet in the air, by one hand. She attempted to hoist herself back up but she did not have an athletic build or strong enough arms to pull her full body weight up back onto the broom. Instead she focused on trying to hold on, which was made extremely difficult by the fact that her broom continued to buck and toss. It only took less than a minute for her entire arm to lose all feeling and for her fingers to grow tiered and limp and, with one last jerk form the broom, her hand slipped and she went tumbling through the air towards the lake, a bloodcurdling scream leaving her lips and piercing the cold air that rushed around her.

**_A.N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter… it took me ages to write (mostly due to my own carelessness). Anyway, hope you liked it. Was there enough action and excitement in that? Sorry I left it on a cliff hanger but I think chapters are better left that way. However if you want to find out more and don't want to wait for the next chapter… send a review saying that you want a preview and I will send you a preview of the next chapter ASAP. If you don't want one and still want to review then just say 'please don't send me a preview' (or something like that) and I won't. R&R please and tell me what you think because I care what you think and I need to know so that I can make this story into the story you want it to be! I really want this to become a story that you all like and enjoy reading. Thanx for sticking with me and hope you had a good half term. xxxxxx_**

**Smileytiger :P xxx**


	13. Chapter 12 James Potter

__**_A.N: Hey guys, it took me a lot less time to finish this chapter. Actual it would have been finished by last week but I've had a ton of homework for some reason. So, well enjoy. :) xxx_**

**_Thanks to:_**

_The Yoshinator__:_**_I updated! Yay! Hope the wait wasn't too long this time. Thanks for reviewing :P xxx_**

_Katsumi Kobayashi__: _**_I'm glad you liked the chapter! I enjoyed writing it. I also enjoyed writing this chapter, hope u like this one too. Thanks, :P xxx_**

_Helen (guest): _**_Hi! Thanks for reviewing my story. You are the first guest reviewer! Hope you continue to read my story. :P xxx_**

**_And now, on with the story …!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or the magical terms ect. I only own my own characters. :(_**

Chapter 12 – James Potter

Hogwarts dungeons had always been a cold, unfriendly place where young witches and wizards were compelled to study the art of potions. This fact had been true for many hundreds of years and there was no exception on this particular Thursday afternoon. The room was barely lit – only by candles which gave the room an eerie presence – and had the distinct feeling of a winter's breeze although the windows were tightly shut as they always were with thick, heavy curtains draped over them, blocking out the light. In the front of the room, an old, plump, bald man, stood behind a desk piled high with papers, giving the class a lecture on the appropriate subject. Only half of the class were listening to the man's lesson and even then, only half of those few were actually taking any of it in.

In the far corner of the room, sitting at one of the round tables, was a boy. Like the rest of his classmates, he was around the age of 13 and, was obviously one of the half of the class who had absolutely no idea what was going on in the class as they were just not paying any attention. His friends surrounded him at the table and were all looking as bored as he felt. The boy had brown hair and brown eyes and by his posture one would guess he was fairly tall. One also would have said that his posture was appalling. He sat, slouched, in his chair, one arm rested on the table, propping his head up, the other fiddled with his wand which lay in his lap. His eyes were half-closed in boredom and even his trademark smirk which he continually wore had slipped down into a frown. He hated potions. What made it worse was that, through a small gap in the dark curtains, he could see outside, which was fairly bright and had the happy glow of an autumn day. He wished he could be out there, maybe riding his new broom, otherwise just sitting there, by the dry golden leaves which had been falling from the trees for the last month. Instead he was sitting here, in a dark classroom, listening to a boring professor try to teach him something he couldn't care less about.

He sighed and turned away from the window, knowing that seeing the view would make him feel worse, and gripped his wand tighter. Suddenly an idea hit him, why not liven things up a bit? He sat up properly and looked round the room for inspiration. _It'll have to be something small… _he thought _Slughorn can't notice or I'll be suspended. I'm already in enough trouble for blowing up Loony Lovegood's crystal ball last week. _He continued scanning the room discreetly, looking up and down at his bored classmates. _What should I do? Ah, Amos. _His mischievous brown eyes fixed on a small, blonde haired Hufflepuff boy who wore an impeccably neat uniform and big round glasses propped up on his bony nose. The brown haired boy's own uniform was a 'disgrace to the school' as his teachers liked to put it, though the boy thought they were over reacting. It was always clean, washed and ironed, it was just the way he wore it which the teachers disliked. On most days he 'accidently' forgot his cloak and he _never _wore his pointed hat… he wasn't sure he even owned one, though his mother constantly complained about his refusal 'You're not a real wizard without your hat!' His tie was also non-existent and so all that was left of his uniform was a white shirt – with the first two buttons undone and the bottom un-tucked – and the charcoal grey school trousers and black sneakers. Today, however, he wore his cloak over his usual attire as 1, it was fairly cold outside and 2, he was admittedly in big trouble and needed to lay low for a while so that his parents would not be informed.

_So what should I do to him? _He asked himself. Amos was, soft and wimpy, just like most of the other Hufflepuffs. They proved good targets for his practical jokes. Just then Professor Slughorn called Amos up to the front. Though the boy wasn't listening he caught Slughorn gesturing to a large cauldron which already had some sort of mixture sloshing about in it. Amos, who looked extremely nervous, gulped audibly and nodded, stepping towards the cauldron, lifting his wand up with shaky hands.

_I know. _The boy smirked and lifted his wand just above the desk. "_Expeliarmus._" He whispered almost inaudibly and gave it a not so obvious flick. Amos's wand shot out of his hand and hit the far side of the room with a bang. The class, who hadn't been paying attention until then, looked up and sniggers filled the room. Amos blushed red and stuttered a sorry to the unimpressed looking Professor Slughorn. The boy held in a laugh and instead smirked as he watched the mortified boy practically run over to retrieve his wand. The brown haired boy's friends looked at him suspiciously but he ignored them fixing his attention to the front of the class, though a closer glance told you all you needed to know – his eyes were dancing with laughter and his smirk was more pronounced. Amos returned to the front to 're-try' the spell the professor had instructed him to do. But oh no, the boy wasn't going to leave it there. As Amos raised his wand over the cauldron and was about to say the incantation, the boy struck again. "_Wingardium Leviosa._" He muttered again waving his wand discreetly. Swish and flick. Instead of Amos's wand flying out of his hand like last time, something even worse happened. The gooey liquid form the cauldron – which was a sickly yellow colour – rose up into the air and, as the boy flicked his wand forward slightly, floated towards Amos. The boy allowed it to hover over Amos for just long enough for Amos to look up and see the sick coloured gunk hovering over his head, before letting it go. The mixture sloshed over the small boy and covered him before running down to the floor. All eyes were trained to Amos who was standing, frozen in shock, his wand still raised over the now empty cauldron. His eyes were wide in shock and his face red with embarrassment. It was perfect, everyone thought it was Amos who had screwed up and dumped the potion over his own head. The boy snickered and pocketed his wand, feeling satisfied.

"Amos!" Professor Slughorn fumed and a few tears trickled down Amos's cheeks.

"I I'm sorry sir, I d d don't know what happened!" He stuttered looking at the ground.

"Just sit back down." Slughorn said in exasperation. Amos nodded solemnly before making his way back to his seat. However, before he was even halfway there, he paused and, looking down at his right arm, yanked his sleeve up to reveal his lower arm which, much to everyone's surprise, was covered in large, red blisters. The class's eyes were trained on the small boy now and they watched in amazement as the blisters spread rapidly over Amos's skin and over his face. Soon his whole body was covered in the inflamed, red lumps and Amos was standing, once again completely still in shock.

"Oh no, I was hoping that whatever you did to the potion would have stopped this from happening." Slughorn sighed in annoyance, though he was not particularly worried. "Sarah Johnson, can you take him to the infirmary, I'm sure Madam Pomfrey can sort him out." A Hufflepuff girl with mousy brown hair tied back in a ponytail stood up and guided the frantic Amos out of the room. After they had left, Professor Slughorn had set about trying to clean up the left over gunk on the floor while the students talked about the event.

The boy who had caused all of the trouble was snickering to himself; glad he had made the lesson more interesting and was congratulating himself on the fact that he hadn't been caught. Well that's what he thought, however, next to him sat his best friend, a dark skinned wizard with dreadlocks, who had just watched the whole thing unfold including the part where the boy had been casting the spells. He watched the brown haired boy silently until the boy, sensing his friend's stare on his back, turned to face him.

"It was you, wasn't it?" The boy with the dreadlocks whispered. The others boy's smirk fell slightly.

"How do you know?" He didn't deny it as he was not worried that his friend caught him. He wouldn't turn him in.

"I saw you mate." His friend said, grinning. The brown haired boy's smirk returned again.

"I got bored." He said in way of an explanation. His friend nodded.

"You often do." He laughed, but then his face turned serious. "But seriously James, you need be careful. You could get suspended and then where would we be?"

"I know, I know." James dismissed it. "Lighten up Ash. It was just for a joke." Ash frowned but didn't respond, instead just rolling his eyes.

Before James had time to say anything more, Professor Slughorn cleared his throat loudly, drawing the attention of the class on himself. "Class is dismissed, you may go." He announced and, without further prompting, the class rose and fled the dungeons in favour for a lighter and happier atmosphere.

James walked down the corridor towards his next lesson with his two favourite friends on either side. Though he had many, many more, he had let them go on ahead to the lesson, wanting to delay getting there as much as possible. Their next lesson was 'History of Magic' with professor Binns and would undoubtedly be even more boring than Potions.

"Hey, guys." James said as the three walked through the school.

"Hmm?" Ash asked and Louis looked up at him.

"What d'you say to ditching the next class?" He asked.

"Sure, sounds good." Ash said without hesitation. However Louis had to pause before answering as he was always unsure about his two friend's continual pranks and ditching classes. He didn't want to get into trouble. Seeing his hesitation, James cut in.

"Come on Louis, do you _really_ want to sit through an hour of Binns rabbling on?"

"Well, I guess its okay." Louis allowed and with that, three turned around and headed back in their steps, towards the back exit of the castle.

"Let's go by Hagrid's hut, he probably won't be in, but it'll stop us from being seen, then we can go round to the great lake." James suggested once they were outside. It was quite cold though not unpleasant and the other two boys followed James down the path that led to Hagrid's hut. As they travelled, Ash started up an animated conversation about the oncoming quidditch games which James would be playing in. James was not worried in the least about them, though he was looking forward to them immensely. He loved quidditch. It was one of the few things he really enjoyed doing.

They were almost at Hagrid's hut when the conversation turned back to that morning's topic, brooms.

"Hey, James, when we get back, shows us your broom." Louis asked him as they walked down the path. He was referring to the broom he had gotten last night. Apollo, his owl, had helped deliver it with a few other owls, to his room just after dinner, so that no one else would notice. He had hidden it under his bed in the Gryffindor dorms. His father had sent it, knowing that the quidditch season was coming up.

"Sure." Truth be told, he had been dying to show his friends his new broom, and to try it out. He hadn't had the time to yet.

"Which broom?" Ash asked, feeling and looking confused.

"You don't know Ash?" Louis asked, shocked. "We've only been talking about it _all_ morning." It was true; they had been talking about it all morning; James, the Gryffindor team and Louis.

"I wasn't here this morning, remember? I was in detention with Loony Lovegood." Ash responded, looking slightly annoyed at the fact that his friends had forgotten.

"Oh yeah." James smirked "I'll tell you then…"

"It's only the best broom in history!" Louise cut in, excitedly.

"Yup, the fastest, smoothest and coolest broom ever. It's only just come out." James informed Ash who had a look of awe on his face. "It's the _Blaze 5,000."_

"Really?! Wow, I don't think they are even being advertised yet! How did you get your hands on one of them? It's impossible, even for a Potter." Ash asked and James laughed, happy that he had got the reaction he wanted.

"Well not for me. My dad knows a guy." James said smirking.

"This is really good for Gryffindor, with a broom like that, there's no way we can lose the quidditch cup!" Louis cheered, though, of course, it was highly unlikely that the Gryffindor team would have lost anyways, even without James broom.

The three boys continued to walk down the path, now in a comfortable silence until Louis out of the corner of his eye, Ash spotted a figure outside Hagrid's hut. "Hey James, who's that outside Hagrid's hut? Doesn't she look familiar?" He asked. James looked towards Hagrid's hut and saw what Ash was talking about. It was a girl and was identifiable as a student by her uniform. She had long, black hair but her identity was unidentifiable as he couldn't see her face through her curtain of hair which was shielding her from view.

"Not really." James said, answering Ash's question.

"Let's just hope it's not some teachers pet, we don't want her to report to McGonagall that we're ditching." Louis said quietly so as the girl wouldn't hear.

"Who would turn in the famous James Potter?" James asked, smirking and the other two laughed, their brief worry gone.

"You're right let's go." Ash agreed and the three boys continued to walk down the path and passed Hagrid's hut, not sparing the girl another glance.

Again the boys in silence, just enjoying the peace and quiet and the feeling of calm that radiated from the nature around them. James, who walked between his two friends, led the way, though he wasn't really in front. Though he was leading, he needn't have as the two beside him knew the root well. The three often ditched class together and even when they did, they almost always went to the same spot next to the great lake. The spot was unpopular and secluded due mostly to the fact that it was so far away from the school. It was almost a twenty minute brisk walk to get there and most thought it was not worth it as it was only a small clearing by the lake, almost completely shaded by trees – not a good sun spot. Besides, there was a much bigger, sunnier space by the great lake, just near the school whose water was shallow enough to swim in. So, almost all of the students went there, in fact that place was so popular, that barley any knew about the small, shaded clearing further up the lake. That made it a perfect place to ditch.

When the boys arrived at the clearing, they threw their school bags down in an untidy heap on the ground before finding a fairly sunny spot and sitting down on the soft and slightly damp grass by the lake. James paused for a second before lying down, his head resting on his arms which were folded neatly behind his head. _This is more like it. _James thought as he watched the sun shine through the leaves of the trees. His two friends started up a discussion about quidditch as was per usual and James tuned them out, bored of the topic. Of course he loved quidditch, but it was all they talked about these days, what with the quidditch season coming up. The talking had grown so endless that James admitted that he wasn't really looking forward to the season at all but more to the end of it, where hopefully, his friends would have grown bored of the subject. Instead of joining to their conversation, he closed his eyes and had a nap, enjoying the soft glow of the sun's rays that managed to get through his closed lids.

He wasn't sure how much time exactly had passed when he came to again but he didn't feel like he had been asleep for long. Something had woken him. He pushed himself into a sitting position, slightly annoyed by the disturbance. "What was that?" He asked his two friends who had stopped conversing and were now looking around, confused.

"I'm not sure." Louis said. "It sounded like a scream, but it was too far away to be sure."

"A scream?" James asked, confused. Why would anyone be screaming? Hogwarts was the safest place with wards and barriers and top sorcerers for teachers. It was almost impossible for danger to get into Hogwarts. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"I said I wasn't." Louis reminded him. "It sounded like it was, but doesn't make sense." James nodded in agreement and was about to say something when Ash, who had so far not joined the conversation, interrupted him.

"Guys, be quiet. We might be able to hear it again. If you're talking, you'll miss it." He said, sounding slightly annoyed. James realised that he was right. If the sound was important at all, it would surely happen again. He held back his comment and instead listened intently.

"Your right." Louis voiced before Ash shushed him and he shut up. The three boys listened intently for a few seconds but they heard nothing out of the ordinary; just the usual soft sound of the lapping water, the blowing wind and the birds tweeting to each other. They were about to give in, when true to Ash's word, the sound re-appeared. It was obvious this time what the sound was and where it was coming from. The three boys jumped up from the floor and rushed to the very edge of the lake bank and looked up to the sky as the bloodcurdling scream sliced through the cold air above them.

The boys search the sky for the source of the scream which had not yet ceased, but could not find it. They looked more closely, scanning the area above the lake and, though the other two boys did not notice it, James saw the small figure which fell from the sky way, way above them. It was too far away for him to make out but by the sound of the scream, it was a human. The figure was falling at an alarmingly fast rate, and was gathering speed as it came closer to them. James reached his hand into the pocket of his robe and fumbled around in it before his cold, shaking fingers clasped round the smooth surface of his wand which he whipped out and pointed at the figure. Ash and Louise saw him bring out the wand and looked in the direction it was pointing at and both saw the figure too. Their eyes grew wide and they fumbled in their pockets for their wands too before realising that they left them in their bags which were still in the heap at the entrance to the clearing. They hesitated for a moment before leaving the side of the lake and running towards their bags.

James however, did not take his eyes away from the falling figure. He paused, racking his brain for a spell that would help the situation. But his thoughts were in such a mess of panic, that he came up blank. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and tried to find the solution. _First, what do I want to happen?_ He thought as he tried to come up with a spell as quickly as possible. _I need to slow it down! _He concluded. _If it keeps falling at that speed, it will create too big of an impact and the water will crush it..._ he continued to wrack his brain before, _I know!_ The right spell suddenly came to his head. His dad had taught it to him as it had saved him once before, in one of his quidditch matches when he was at school.

Without wasting another second, James took a deep breath, swished his wand and shouted the spell, "_Aresto!_"

**_A.N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I enjoyed writing it. I think the next chapter will be up quite soon because I kind of know what is going to happen. I'm sorry if the A.N's are a bit quick but I wanted to post this chapter before I went out with my friends to watch Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2! (I've 'only' been waiting all year to watch it!) _**

**_So have a good weekend and please Review and tell me what you think. I will start the new chapter tomorrow and try to have it quickly :P R&R_**

**_Smileytiger :P xxxxxxxxxxxx_**


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